Term ended Mar 2, 2021 · High confidence
20-year base term ended Mar 2, 2021
USPTO later recorded it as expired for non-payment on Aug 18, 2025.
Filed Feb 12, 2013 as application 13/765,238 · Granted Jul 16, 2013
Base term, 20 years from filing
Today
Term ended Mar 2, 2021
2001
2026
Clock starts
Mar 2, 2001
Mar 2, 2001
Term ended
Mar 2, 2021
Mar 2, 2021
Granted
Jul 16, 2013
Jul 16, 2013
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.
No effect
Terminal disclaimer
Resolved from the filed document, referencing US 8,374,237, to Mar 2, 2021. The term already ends on or before that date, so the cap shortened nothing.
2 of 2
Maintenance fees paid
Two maintenance fees can end this term early, the ones due 3.5 and 7.5 years from grant; the third one's grace period runs past the term end. This counts the ones the record shows paid.
7
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 is its 20-year base term, with no adjustment for prosecution delay. A terminal disclaimer is resolved from the filed document, and it ends no earlier than this term, so it shortens nothing. 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 Mar 2, 2001, when application 09/798,346, the earliest non-provisional in its chain, was filed (this one was filed Feb 12, 2013) | Mar 2, 2021 | 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 | Disclaimer resolved from the filed document (refs US 8,374,237) | resolves to Mar 2, 2021, no earlier than this term, so no change | High confidence |
| Patent term extension | None on file | no change | High confidence |
| Fee events | 2 of 2 maintenance fees paid | term ended | High confidence |
| USPTO status record | Recorded as expired for non-payment on Aug 18, 2025, after the term ended | no change | High confidence |
| Computed term end | The steps above, in order | Mar 2, 2021 | High confidence |
This family
| US 8,374,237 | In force May 2031 | May 2031 |
| US 8,576,907 | Term ended no later than Dec 2021 | no later than Dec 2021 |
| US 8,594,188 | Term ended no later than Dec 2021 | no later than Dec 2021 |
| US 8,488,670 | this patent Mar 2021 | Mar 2021 |
| US 9,667,957 | Term ended Mar 2021 | Mar 2021 |
| US 10,264,256 | Term ended Dec 2021 | Dec 2021 |
| Application 16/364,011 | Abandoned not computed | not computed |
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 12, 2013 Reel 29797, frame 960 | Demos, Gary A.; Ruhoff, David | Demografx | Assignment of Assignor's Interest |
| Feb 12, 2013 Reel 29798, frame 172 | Demografx | Dolby Laboratories, Inc. | Assignment of Assignor's Interest |
| Feb 12, 2013 Reel 29798, frame 440 | Dolby Laboratories, Inc. | Dolby Laboratories Licensing Corporation | 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.
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Alerts on its grants, lapses and transfers.
Terminal disclaimer
A terminal disclaimer resolved from the filed document, referencing US 8,374,237, ends no earlier than this term, so it caps nothing.
Citations
10
later US patents cite this one
That is above 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.