Lapsed Aug 7, 2024 on the fee record · High confidence
20-year base term ended Jul 30, 2024
Third maintenance fee unpaid; grace period ended.
Held by Apple Inc.
Filed Jan 18, 2005 as application 11/038,590 · Granted Aug 7, 2012
Base term, 20 years from filing, plus 936 days of patent term adjustment (USPTO delay)
Today
Lapsed Aug 7, 2024
2004
2027
Clock starts
Jul 30, 2004
Jul 30, 2004
No longer in force
Aug 7, 2024
Aug 7, 2024
Granted
Aug 7, 2012
Aug 7, 2012
Term would have run to
Feb 21, 2027
Feb 21, 2027
base term
patent term adjustment
after the term ends
fee events
Updated Nov 14, 2026 · includes USPTO assignment & status data published Nov 14, 2026 and grant & fee data published Nov 10, 2026 (weekly) · how we know
936
Days of term adjustment
Read from the USPTO patent term adjustment record, not recalculated here.
None
Terminal disclaimer
No disclaimer on this record.
2 of 3
Maintenance fees paid
Three maintenance fees fall due, at 3.5, 7.5 and 11.5 years from grant. This counts the ones the record shows paid.
90
Family applications on record here
Applications sharing this one's continuity chain whose file history this site holds. The family may have others.
Its term would have run to Feb 21, 2027: its 20-year base term plus 936 days of term adjustment for prosecution delay. Confidence: High. from the record
How we calculated this date
One row per rule, each showing its own input and what it did to the date. A step we could not verify says so instead of resolving itself.
| Step | Input | Date after this step | Confidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| Base term, 20 years from filing | Clock starts Jul 30, 2004, when application 10/903,964, the earliest non-provisional in its chain, was filed (this one was filed Jan 18, 2005) | Jul 30, 2024 | High confidence |
| Continuity chain | Every parent in the chain resolved | no change | High confidence |
| Patent term adjustment | +936 days, USPTO patent term adjustment record | Feb 21, 2027 | High confidence |
| Terminal disclaimer cap | None on record | no cap applied | High confidence |
| Patent term extension | None on file | no change | High confidence |
| Fee events | 2 of 3 maintenance fees paid | lapsed Aug 7, 2024 | High confidence |
| Computed term end | The steps above, in order | Aug 7, 2024 | High confidence |
This family
| US 6,888,536 | Term ended Jan 2019 | Jan 2019 |
| US 8,479,122 | Lapsed on the fee record Jul 2025 | Jul 2025 |
| US 7,760,187 | Term ended Oct 2026 | Oct 2026 |
| US 7,339,580 | Term ended Aug 2019 | Aug 2019 |
| US 8,239,784 | this patent Aug 2024 | Aug 2024 |
| US 9,348,458 | Lapsed on the fee record May 2024 | May 2024 |
| US 7,599,044 | In force Jul 2027 | Jul 2027 |
| Application PCT/US2005/025641 | PCT application no patent term | no patent term |
8 of 90 applications in this family shown, earliest filings first. The applications whose file history this site holds. The family may have others.
Assignments
Assignment documents as recorded at the USPTO, oldest first, with the reel and frame each was recorded at. A recorded assignment is a filed document, not a statement of current ownership, and the absence of a later one is not evidence that the last one still stands.
| Recorded | Assignor | Assignee | Conveyance |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 16, 2005 Reel 16219, frame 894 | Hotelling, Steve; Huppi, Brian Q.; Strickon, Joshua A.; Kerr, Duncan Robert; Ording, Bas; Chaudhri, Imran; Christie, Greg; Ive, Jonathan P. | Apple Computer, Inc. | Assignment of Assignor's Interest |
| May 11, 2007 Reel 19265, frame 961 | Apple Computer, Inc. | Apple Inc. | Change of Name |
Sources
Google Patents · The patent document at USPTO · Assignment records at USPTO
USPTO account required: This application in Patent Center · USPTO's maintenance fee lookup
Maintenance fee events come from USPTO's own fee records. Its fee lookup asks for the patent number and the application number.
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Alerts on its grants, lapses and transfers.
What's changing
Note
The 936 days of patent term adjustment (USPTO delay) are read from the USPTO record, not recalculated by us
Citations
2,410
later US patents cite this one
That is top 1% of utility patents granted in 2012 in our data, the only group it is compared against.
How we rank
Every date shows its work: the base term, any term adjustment or extension, any disclaimer cap, and the maintenance fee record, each with a confidence tier. How this record was built
Computed patent terms end on the dates shown. Related patents and pending applications may cover overlapping subject matter.