Lapsed Sep 4, 2024 on the fee record · High confidence
20-year base term ends May 17, 2027
Third maintenance fee unpaid; grace period ended.
No current holder resolved from the recorded chain.
Filed Mar 1, 2011 as application 13/038,074 · Granted Sep 4, 2012
Base term, 20 years from filing
Today
Lapsed Sep 4, 2024
2007
2027
Clock starts
May 17, 2007
May 17, 2007
No longer in force
Sep 4, 2024
Sep 4, 2024
Granted
Sep 4, 2012
Sep 4, 2012
Term would have run to
May 17, 2027
May 17, 2027
base term
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
None
Term adjustment
No prosecution delay on this record.
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.
8
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 May 17, 2027: its 20-year base term, with no 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 May 17, 2007, when application 11/749,869, the earliest non-provisional in its chain, was filed (this one was filed Mar 1, 2011) | May 17, 2027 | High confidence |
| Continuity chain | Every parent in the chain resolved | no change | High confidence |
| Patent term adjustment | None on file | no change | 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 Sep 4, 2024 | High confidence |
| Computed term end | The steps above, in order | Sep 4, 2024 | High confidence |
This family
| US 7,932,417 | In force Feb 2028 | Feb 2028 |
| US 8,258,121 | this patent Sep 2024 | Sep 2024 |
| US 8,431,731 | Lapsed on the fee record Apr 2025 | Apr 2025 |
| US 9,375,391 | Lapsed on the fee record Jun 2024 | Jun 2024 |
| US 10,045,921 | Lapsed on the fee record Aug 2026 | Aug 2026 |
| Application 16/032,596 | Abandoned not computed | not computed |
| US 11,793,737 | In force Nov 2027 | Nov 2027 |
| US 12,285,509 | In force May 2027 | May 2027 |
The applications whose file history this site holds. The family may have others.
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.
Citations
3
later US patents cite this one
That is below the median 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.