Term ends Dec 21, 2026 · High confidence
20-year base term ended Jun 24, 2023
Held by Creative Technology Ltd.
Filed Jan 31, 2008 as application 12/012,251 · Granted Nov 27, 2012
Base term plus 1276 days of patent term adjustment (USPTO delay)
Today
2003
2026
Clock starts
Jun 24, 2003
Jun 24, 2003
Term ends
Dec 21, 2026
Dec 21, 2026
Granted
Nov 27, 2012
Nov 27, 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
1,276
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.
4
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 1276 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 Jun 24, 2003, when application 10/606,196, the earliest non-provisional in its chain, was filed (this one was filed Jan 31, 2008) | Jun 24, 2023 | High confidence |
| Continuity chain | Every parent in the chain resolved | no change | High confidence |
| Patent term adjustment | +1276 days, USPTO patent term adjustment record | Dec 21, 2026 | 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 | Dec 21, 2026 | High confidence |
This family
| US 7,353,169 | Term ended Nov 2025 | Nov 2025 |
| US 7,277,550 | Term ended Jun 2025 | Jun 2025 |
| US 8,086,448 | Term ended May 2026 | May 2026 |
| US 8,321,206 | this patent Dec 2026 | Dec 2026 |
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 17, 2012 Reel 29147, frame 291 | Goodwin, Michael; Avendano, Carlos; Wolters, Martin; Sridharan, Ramkumar | Creative Technology 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
Dec 2026
Term ends Dec 21, 2026. No further fees fall due before then
Note
The 1276 days of patent term adjustment (USPTO delay) are read from the USPTO record, not recalculated by us
Citations
13
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.