Term ends Apr 6, 2031 · High confidence
20-year base term ends Oct 2, 2029
Held by Nintendo Co., Ltd.
Filed Oct 2, 2009 as application 12/572,682 · Granted Sep 11, 2012
Base term plus 551 days of patent term adjustment (USPTO delay)
Today
2009
2031
Clock starts
Oct 2, 2009
Oct 2, 2009
Term ends
Apr 6, 2031
Apr 6, 2031
Granted
Sep 11, 2012
Sep 11, 2012
base term
patent term adjustment
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
551
Days of term adjustment
Read from the USPTO patent term adjustment record, not recalculated here.
None
Terminal disclaimer
No disclaimer on this record.
3 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.
19
Family applications on record here
Applications sharing this one's continuity chain whose file history this site holds. The family may have others.
This patent's term runs 551 days past its 20-year base term on prosecution delay. All three maintenance fees are recorded paid; no more fees are due. 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 Oct 2, 2009, when this application, 12/572,682, was filed | Oct 2, 2029 | High confidence |
| Continuity chain | Every parent in the chain resolved | no change | High confidence |
| Patent term adjustment | +551 days, USPTO patent term adjustment record | Apr 6, 2031 | 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 | 3 of 3 maintenance fees paid | In force | High confidence |
| Computed term end | The steps above, in order | Apr 6, 2031 | High confidence |
This family
| US 8,387,437 | In force Aug 2030 | Aug 2030 |
| US 8,081,189 | In force Oct 2030 | Oct 2030 |
| US 9,462,209 | In force Aug 2035 | Aug 2035 |
| US 8,175,993 | In force Nov 2030 | Nov 2030 |
| US 8,152,640 | In force Jun 2030 | Jun 2030 |
| US 8,264,472 | this patent Apr 2031 | Apr 2031 |
| US 8,648,871 | In force no later than Jun 2032 | no later than Jun 2032 |
| US 8,749,571 | In force Apr 2033 | Apr 2033 |
8 of 19 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 2, 2009 reel/frame not recorded | Hamamura, Takashi; Hayashi, Hiroyuki; Takahashi, Kazunori; Yamamoto, Masanobu | Nintendo Co., Ltd. | Assignment of Assignor's Interest |
| Oct 2, 2009 reel/frame not recorded | Hamamura, Takashi; Hayashi, Hiroyuki; Takahashi, Kazunori; Yamamoto, Masanobu | Hal Laboratory Inc. | Assignment of Assignor's Interest |
| Oct 2, 2009 Reel 23321, frame 64 | Hamamura, Takashi; Takahashi, Kazunori; Hayashi, Hiroyuki; Yamamoto, Masanobu | Nintendo Co., Ltd.; Hal Laboratory Inc. | Assignment of Assignor's Interest |
| Jul 2, 2024 Reel 67891, frame 814 | Hal Laboratory Inc. | Nintendo Co., Ltd. | Assignment of Assignor's Interest |
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.
What's changing
Apr 2031
Term ends Apr 6, 2031. No further fees fall due before then
Note
The 551 days of patent term adjustment (USPTO delay) are read from the USPTO record, not recalculated by us
Citations
0
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.
In force means the term is running and no lapse is on record. It is not a finding that the patent is valid.