Lapsed Sep 17, 2025 on the fee record · High confidence
20-year base term ends Nov 6, 2028
Third maintenance fee unpaid; grace period ended.
Held by Nippon Soken, Inc. and Denso Corporation
Filed Nov 6, 2008 as application 12/265,767 · Granted Sep 17, 2013
Base term, 20 years from filing, plus 969 days of patent term adjustment (USPTO delay)
Today
Lapsed Sep 17, 2025
2008
2031
Clock starts
Nov 6, 2008
Nov 6, 2008
No longer in force
Sep 17, 2025
Sep 17, 2025
Granted
Sep 17, 2013
Sep 17, 2013
Term would have run to
Jul 3, 2031
Jul 3, 2031
base term
patent term adjustment
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
969
Days of term adjustment
Read from the USPTO patent term adjustment record, not recalculated here.
None
Terminal disclaimer
No disclaimer on this record.
2 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.
10
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 Jul 3, 2031: its 20-year base term plus 969 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 6, 2008, when this application, 12/265,767, was filed | Nov 6, 2028 | High confidence |
| Continuity chain | Every parent in the chain resolved | no change | High confidence |
| Patent term adjustment | +969 days, USPTO patent term adjustment record | Jul 3, 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 | 2 of 3 maintenance fees paid | lapsed Sep 17, 2025 | High confidence |
| Computed term end | The steps above, in order | Sep 17, 2025 | High confidence |
This family
| US 7,773,399 | In force Jun 2028 | Jun 2028 |
| US 8,010,257 | Lapsed on the fee record Aug 2023 | Aug 2023 |
| Application 11/808,772 | Abandoned not computed | not computed |
| US 7,746,670 | In force Jul 2028 | Jul 2028 |
| US 8,074,444 | Lapsed on the fee record Dec 2023 | Dec 2023 |
| US 8,536,872 | this patent Sep 2025 | Sep 2025 |
| US 8,451,091 | In force no later than Nov 2031 | no later than Nov 2031 |
| Application 12/731,603 | Abandoned not computed | not computed |
8 of 10 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dec 29, 2008 reel/frame not recorded | Ueda, Kenzi; Yamamoto, Naoki | Nippon Soken, Inc. | Assignment of Assignor's Interest |
| Dec 29, 2008 reel/frame not recorded | Ueda, Kenzi; Yamamoto, Naoki | Denso Corporation | Assignment of Assignor's Interest |
| Dec 29, 2008 Reel 22059, frame 407 | Ueda, Kenzi; Yamamoto, Naoki | Nippon Soken, Inc.; Denso 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.
Free plan: 3 watched companies. Pro: unlimited.
Alerts on its grants, lapses and transfers.
What's changing
Note
The 969 days of patent term adjustment (USPTO delay) are read from the USPTO record, not recalculated by us
Citations
6
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.