Lapsed Apr 1, 2026 on the fee record · High confidence
20-year base term ends Jan 10, 2027
Third maintenance fee unpaid; grace period ended.
Held by Cilag GmbH International
Filed May 27, 2011 as application 13/118,259 · Granted Apr 1, 2014
Base term, 20 years from filing, plus 250 days of patent term adjustment (USPTO delay)
Today
Lapsed Apr 1, 2026
2007
2027
Clock starts
Jan 10, 2007
Jan 10, 2007
No longer in force
Apr 1, 2026
Apr 1, 2026
Granted
Apr 1, 2014
Apr 1, 2014
Term would have run to
Sep 17, 2027
Sep 17, 2027
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
250
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.
38
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 Sep 17, 2027: its 20-year base term plus 250 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 Jan 10, 2007, when application 11/651,807, the earliest non-provisional in its chain, was filed (this one was filed May 27, 2011) | Jan 10, 2027 | High confidence |
| Continuity chain | Every parent in the chain resolved | no change | High confidence |
| Patent term adjustment | +250 days, USPTO patent term adjustment record | Sep 17, 2027 | 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 Apr 1, 2026 | High confidence |
| Computed term end | The steps above, in order | Apr 1, 2026 | High confidence |
This family
| US 8,459,520 | Lapsed on the fee record Jun 2025 | Jun 2025 |
| US 8,517,243 | Lapsed on the fee record Aug 2025 | Aug 2025 |
| Application 13/037,498 | Abandoned not computed | not computed |
| US 8,684,253 | this patent Apr 2026 | Apr 2026 |
| US 8,479,969 | In force Jan 2027 | Jan 2027 |
| Application PCT/US2012/026997 | PCT application no patent term | no patent term |
| Application PCT/US2012/039156 | PCT application no patent term | no patent term |
| Application 13/489,500 | Abandoned not computed | not computed |
8 of 38 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 16, 2011 Reel 26755, frame 391 | Giordano, James R.; Swayze, Jeffrey S.; Shelton, Frederick E., IV | Ethicon Endo-Surgery, Inc. | Assignment of Assignor's Interest |
| Dec 6, 2015 Reel 37220, frame 212 | Ethicon Endo-Surgery, Inc. | Ethicon Endo-Surgery, LLC | Assignment of Assignor's Interest |
| Feb 27, 2017 Reel 41821, frame 186 | Ethicon Endo-Surgery, LLC | Ethicon LLC | Change of Name |
| Apr 27, 2021 Reel 56601, frame 339 | Ethicon LLC | Cilag GmbH International | 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 250 days of patent term adjustment (USPTO delay) are read from the USPTO record, not recalculated by us
Citations
2,742
later US patents cite this one
That is top 1% 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.