Term ends Dec 6, 2028 · High confidence
20-year base term ends Sep 22, 2030
Held by Auterra, Inc.
Filed Sep 22, 2010 as application 12/888,049 · Granted Oct 30, 2012
Base term plus 121 days of patent term adjustment (USPTO delay) · capped by a resolved terminal disclaimer
Today
2010
2030
Clock starts
Sep 22, 2010
Sep 22, 2010
Term ends
Dec 6, 2028
Dec 6, 2028
Granted
Oct 30, 2012
Oct 30, 2012
base term
after the term ends
fee events
Updated Nov 15, 2026 · includes USPTO assignment & status data published Nov 15, 2026 and grant & fee data published Nov 10, 2026 (weekly) · how we know
121
Days of term adjustment
Read from the USPTO patent term adjustment record, not recalculated here.
Capped
Terminal disclaimer
Resolved from the filed document, referencing US 8,241,490.
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.
11
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 121 days past its 20-year base term on prosecution delay. A terminal disclaimer resolved from the filed document caps it earlier. 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 Sep 22, 2010, when this application, 12/888,049, was filed | Sep 22, 2030 | High confidence |
| Continuity chain | Every parent in the chain resolved | no change | High confidence |
| Patent term adjustment | +121 days, USPTO patent term adjustment record | Jan 21, 2031 | High confidence |
| Terminal disclaimer cap | Disclaimer resolved from the filed document (refs US 8,241,490) | capped to Dec 6, 2028 | 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 | Dec 6, 2028 | High confidence |
This family
| Application PCT/US2008/082095 | PCT application no patent term | no patent term |
| US 8,298,404 | this patent Dec 2028 | Dec 2028 |
| US 8,394,261 | In force Oct 2028 | Oct 2028 |
| US 8,241,490 | In force Dec 2028 | Dec 2028 |
| US 8,764,973 | Lapsed on the fee record Jul 2026 | Jul 2026 |
| Application PCT/US2012/070243 | PCT application no patent term | no patent term |
| US 8,961,779 | In force Oct 2028 | Oct 2028 |
| Application 14/246,508 | Abandoned not computed | not computed |
8 of 11 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nov 5, 2010 Reel 25319, frame 273 | Litz, Kyle E.; Vreeland, Jennifer L.; Rankin, Jonathan P.; Delancey, Thomas W.; Thompson, Timothy A. | Auterra, Inc. | 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.
What's changing
Dec 2028
Term ends Dec 6, 2028. No further fees fall due before then
Note
The 121 days of patent term adjustment (USPTO delay) are read from the USPTO record, not recalculated by us
Disclaimer cap
This term is capped by a terminal disclaimer resolved from the filed document, referencing US 8,241,490.
Citations
12
later US patents cite this one
That is above 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.