Lapsed Apr 15, 2026 on the fee record · High confidence
20-year base term ends Jan 9, 2029
Third maintenance fee unpaid; grace period ended.
No current holder resolved from the recorded chain.
Filed Sep 5, 2012 as application 13/603,818 · Granted Apr 15, 2014
Base term, 20 years from filing
Today
Lapsed Apr 15, 2026
2009
2029
Clock starts
Jan 9, 2009
Jan 9, 2009
No longer in force
Apr 15, 2026
Apr 15, 2026
Granted
Apr 15, 2014
Apr 15, 2014
Term would have run to
Jan 9, 2029
Jan 9, 2029
base term
after the term ends
fee events
Updated Nov 15, 2026 · includes USPTO assignment & status data published Nov 15, 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.
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.
7
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 Jan 9, 2029: its 20-year base term, with no 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 9, 2009, when application PCT/US2009/030570, the earliest non-provisional in its chain, was filed (this one was filed Sep 5, 2012) | Jan 9, 2029 | 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 | 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 15, 2026 | High confidence |
| Computed term end | The steps above, in order | Apr 15, 2026 | High confidence |
This family
| US 8,278,757 | In force (reinstated) Jun 2029 | Jun 2029 |
| US 8,697,485 | this patent Apr 2026 | Apr 2026 |
| US 9,107,312 | In force Jan 2029 | Jan 2029 |
| US 9,504,150 | Lapsed on the fee record Nov 2024 | Nov 2024 |
| US 9,913,374 | Lapsed on the fee record Mar 2026 | Mar 2026 |
| US 10,244,628 | In force Jan 2029 | Jan 2029 |
6 of 7 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nov 30, 2012 Reel 29383, frame 926 | Princeton University | United States of America as Represented by the Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration | License |
| Jun 18, 2014 Reel 33198, frame 677 | Princeton University | National Science Foundation | Confirmatory License |
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.
Citations
41
later US patents cite this one
That is top 25% 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.