Lapsed Mar 19, 2021 on the fee record · High confidence
20-year base term ends Nov 30, 2029
Second maintenance fee unpaid; grace period ended.
Filed Nov 30, 2009 as application 12/626,997 · Granted Mar 19, 2013
Base term, 20 years from filing, plus 403 days of patent term adjustment (USPTO delay)
Today
Lapsed Mar 19, 2021
2009
2031
Clock starts
Nov 30, 2009
Nov 30, 2009
No longer in force
Mar 19, 2021
Mar 19, 2021
Granted
Mar 19, 2013
Mar 19, 2013
Term would have run to
Jan 7, 2031
Jan 7, 2031
base term
patent term adjustment
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
403
Days of term adjustment
Read from the USPTO patent term adjustment record, not recalculated here.
None
Terminal disclaimer
No disclaimer on this record.
1 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 Jan 7, 2031: its 20-year base term plus 403 days of term 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 Nov 30, 2009, when this application, 12/626,997, was filed | Nov 30, 2029 | High confidence |
| Continuity chain | Every parent in the chain resolved | no change | High confidence |
| Patent term adjustment | +403 days, USPTO patent term adjustment record | Jan 7, 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 | 1 of 3 maintenance fees paid | lapsed Mar 19, 2021 | High confidence |
| Computed term end | The steps above, in order | Mar 19, 2021 | High confidence |
This family
| US 7,971,937 | In force Nov 2029 | Nov 2029 |
| US 8,072,317 | In force Jan 2030 | Jan 2030 |
| US 8,400,242 | this patent Mar 2021 | Mar 2021 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 8, 2010 Reel 24043, frame 24 | Zelmer, Elizabeth A.; Rawls, David W.; Grouse, Alan F. | Johnson Electric S.A. | Assignment of Assignor's Interest |
| Jul 11, 2019 Reel 49724, frame 966 | Johnson Electric S.A. | Johnson Electric International AG | 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.
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Alerts on its grants, lapses and transfers.
What's changing
Note
The 403 days of patent term adjustment (USPTO delay) are read from the USPTO record, not recalculated by us
Citations
3
later US patents cite this one
That is below the median of utility patents granted in 2013 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.