Term ends Nov 27, 2026 · High confidence
20-year base term ends Nov 27, 2026
No current holder resolved from the recorded chain.
Filed Aug 31, 2012 as application 13/600,402 · Granted Dec 17, 2013
Base term, 20 years from filing
Today
2006
2026
Clock starts
Nov 27, 2006
Nov 27, 2006
Term ends
Nov 27, 2026
Nov 27, 2026
Granted
Dec 17, 2013
Dec 17, 2013
base term
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 8,281,370, to Nov 27, 2026. The term already ends on or before that date, so the cap shortened nothing.
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.
18
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. All three maintenance fees are recorded paid; no more fees are due. 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 27, 2006, when application 11/604,577, the earliest non-provisional in its chain, was filed (this one was filed Aug 31, 2012) | Nov 27, 2026 | 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 8,281,370) | resolves to Nov 27, 2026, no earlier than this term, so no change | 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 27, 2026 | High confidence |
This family
| US 8,281,370 | In force Dec 2029 | Dec 2029 |
| Application 12/120,184 | Abandoned not computed | not computed |
| Application PCT/US2008/063758 | PCT application no patent term | no patent term |
| US 9,937,041 | In force Nov 2030 | Nov 2030 |
| US 8,615,790 | In force Nov 2026 | Nov 2026 |
| US 8,613,054 | this patent Nov 2026 | Nov 2026 |
| Application 13/675,440 | Pending not computed | not computed |
| US 10,586,290 | In force Jul 2028 | Jul 2028 |
8 of 18 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 27, 2026. No further fees fall due before then
Terminal disclaimer
A terminal disclaimer resolved from the filed document, referencing US 8,281,370, ends no earlier than this term, so it caps nothing.
Citations
5
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.
In force means the term is running and no lapse is on record. It is not a finding that the patent is valid.