Lapsed Sep 11, 2024 on the fee record · High confidence
20-year base term ended Jul 17, 2026
Third maintenance fee unpaid; grace period ended.
Held by Waters Technologies Corporation
Filed Jan 19, 2011 as application 13/009,291 · Granted Sep 11, 2012
Base term, 20 years from filing
Today
Lapsed Sep 11, 2024
2006
2026
Clock starts
Jul 17, 2006
Jul 17, 2006
No longer in force
Sep 11, 2024
Sep 11, 2024
Granted
Sep 11, 2012
Sep 11, 2012
Term would have run to
Jul 17, 2026
Jul 17, 2026
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.
3
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 Jul 17, 2026: 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 Jul 17, 2006, when application 11/487,581, the earliest non-provisional in its chain, was filed (this one was filed Jan 19, 2011) | Jul 17, 2026 | 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 11, 2024 | High confidence |
| Computed term end | The steps above, in order | Sep 11, 2024 | High confidence |
This family
| US 7,964,029 | In force Aug 2028 | Aug 2028 |
| Application PCT/US2007/073696 | PCT application no patent term | no patent term |
| US 8,262,760 | this patent Sep 2024 | Sep 2024 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 14, 2012 Reel 27702, frame 970 | Fogelman, Kimber D.; Worley, Vincent L.; Sullivan, Peter M. | Thar Instruments, Inc. | Assignment of Assignor's Interest |
| Apr 10, 2012 Reel 28021, frame 88 | Thar Instruments Inc. | Waters Technologies Corporation | Merger |
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.
Free plan: 3 watched companies. Pro: unlimited.
Alerts on its grants, lapses and transfers.
Citations
4
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.