Term ended May 18, 2024 · High confidence
20-year base term ended Dec 15, 2023
USPTO later recorded it as expired for non-payment on Oct 20, 2025.
Held by GE Global Sourcing LLC
Filed Dec 15, 2003 as application 10/736,089 · Granted Sep 17, 2013
Base term plus 155 days of patent term adjustment (USPTO delay)
Today
Term ended May 18, 2024
2003
2026
Clock starts
Dec 15, 2003
Dec 15, 2003
Term ended
May 18, 2024
May 18, 2024
Granted
Sep 17, 2013
Sep 17, 2013
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
155
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 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.
115
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 155 days past its 20-year base term on 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 Dec 15, 2003, when this application, 10/736,089, was filed | Dec 15, 2023 | High confidence |
| Continuity chain | Every parent in the chain resolved | no change | High confidence |
| Patent term adjustment | +155 days, USPTO patent term adjustment record | May 18, 2024 | 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 2 maintenance fees paid | term ended | High confidence |
| USPTO status record | Recorded as expired for non-payment on Oct 20, 2025, after the term ended | no change | High confidence |
| Computed term end | The steps above, in order | May 18, 2024 | High confidence |
This family
| Application 10/361,968 | Abandoned not computed | not computed |
| US 8,538,611 | this patent May 2024 | May 2024 |
| US 7,965,312 | In force Dec 2027 | Dec 2027 |
| US 9,733,625 | Term ended Oct 2026 | Oct 2026 |
| US 8,280,566 | In force Oct 2029 | Oct 2029 |
| US 8,370,006 | In force Aug 2030 | Aug 2030 |
| Application 11/608,257 | Abandoned not computed | not computed |
| US 8,768,543 | Lapsed on the fee record Jul 2026 | Jul 2026 |
8 of 115 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 15, 2003 Reel 14831, frame 81 | Kumar, Ajith; Houpt, Paul K.; Mathe, Stephen S.; Julich, Paul M.; Kisak, Jeffrey; Shaffer, Glenn; Nelson, Scott D. | General Electric Company | Assignment of Assignor's Interest |
| Dec 6, 2018 Reel 48890, frame 642 | General Electric Company | GE Global Sourcing LLC | 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.
What's changing
Note
The 155 days of patent term adjustment (USPTO delay) are read from the USPTO record, not recalculated by us
Citations
We have no citation count for this patent yet. That is not the same as never having been cited.
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.