Term ended Jul 5, 2026 · Medium confidence
20-year base term ended Jul 5, 2026
Why Medium: A parent in the chain could not be resolved.
Held by RTX Corporation
Filed Sep 28, 2012 as application 13/629,834 · Granted Mar 11, 2014
Base term, 20 years from filing
Today
Term ended Jul 5, 2026
2006
2026
Clock starts
Jul 5, 2006
Jul 5, 2006
Term ended
Jul 5, 2026
Jul 5, 2026
Granted
Mar 11, 2014
Mar 11, 2014
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.
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.
27
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. All three maintenance fees were paid, so no fee lapse ended it. 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 Jul 5, 2006, when application 11/481,112, the earliest non-provisional in its chain, was filed (this one was filed Sep 28, 2012); a parent in its chain could not be resolved (the next row) | Jul 5, 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 | None on file | no change | 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 | term ended | High confidence |
| Computed term end | The steps above, in order | Jul 5, 2026 | Medium confidence |
This family
| US 7,704,178 | In force Nov 2028 | Nov 2028 |
| US 8,585,538 | In force Mar 2029 | Mar 2029 |
| US 7,926,260 | Term ended Jul 2026 | Jul 2026 |
| US 8,276,275 | In force Jun 2027 | Jun 2027 |
| US 7,883,439 | Term ended Jul 2026 | Jul 2026 |
| US 8,640,336 | Term ended Jul 2026 | Jul 2026 |
| US 8,585,539 | Term ended Sep 2026 | Sep 2026 |
| US 8,667,688 | this patent Jul 2026 | Jul 2026 |
8 of 27 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 28, 2012 Reel 29042, frame 853 | McCune, Michael E.; Sheridan, William G. | United Technologies Corporation | Assignment of Assignor's Interest |
| Sep 4, 2020 Reel 54062, frame 1 | United Technologies Corporation | Raytheon Technologies Corporation | Change of Name |
| Mar 4, 2021 Reel 55659, frame 1 | United Technologies Corporation | Raytheon Technologies Corporation | Corrective Assignment to Correct the and Remove Patent Application Number 11886281 and Add Patent Application Number 14846874. to Correct the Receiving Party Address Previously Recorded at Reel: 054062 Frame: 0001. Assignor(S) Hereby Confirms the Change of Address. |
| Jul 27, 2023 Reel 64714, frame 1 | Raytheon Technologies Corporation | RTX Corporation | Change of Name |
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.
Citations
84
later US patents cite this one
That is top 10% of utility patents granted in 2014 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.