Term ends Nov 28, 2026 · Medium confidence
20-year base term ended Oct 23, 2026
Why Medium: A parent in the chain could not be resolved.
No current holder resolved from the recorded chain.
Filed Sep 9, 2010 as application 12/878,915 · Granted Aug 20, 2013
Base term plus 36 days of patent term adjustment (USPTO delay)
Today
2006
2026
Clock starts
Oct 23, 2006
Oct 23, 2006
Term ends
Nov 28, 2026
Nov 28, 2026
Granted
Aug 20, 2013
Aug 20, 2013
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
36
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.
9
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 36 days past its 20-year base term on prosecution delay. All three maintenance fees are recorded paid; no more fees are due. Confidence: Medium. 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 23, 2006, when application 11/552,094, the earliest non-provisional in its chain, was filed (this one was filed Sep 9, 2010); a parent in its chain could not be resolved (the next row) | Oct 23, 2026 | High confidence |
| Continuity chain | A parent in the chain could not be resolved | dated from this application's own claim | Medium confidence |
| Patent term adjustment | +36 days, USPTO patent term adjustment record | Nov 28, 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 | Nov 28, 2026 | Medium confidence |
This family
| US 7,794,407 | In force Sep 2028 | Sep 2028 |
| Application PCT/US2009/033116 | PCT application no patent term | no patent term |
| US 8,388,546 | In force Jul 2028 | Jul 2028 |
| US 8,512,256 | this patent Nov 2026 | Nov 2026 |
| US 8,774,907 | In force Nov 2026 | Nov 2026 |
| US 8,858,455 | Term ended Oct 2026 | Oct 2026 |
| US 9,265,443 | Term ended Oct 2026 | Oct 2026 |
| US 9,345,422 | Term ended Oct 2026 | Oct 2026 |
8 of 9 applications in this family shown, earliest filings first. The applications whose file history this site holds. The family may have others.
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
Nov 2026
Term ends Nov 28, 2026. No further fees fall due before then
Note
The 36 days of patent term adjustment (USPTO delay) are read from the USPTO record, not recalculated by us
Citations
184
later US patents cite this one
That is top 5% 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.
In force means the term is running and no lapse is on record. It is not a finding that the patent is valid.