Lapsed May 20, 2022 on the fee record · High confidence
20-year base term ends May 25, 2031
Second maintenance fee unpaid; grace period ended.
Held by Toto Ltd.
Filed May 25, 2011 as application 13/115,870 · Granted May 20, 2014
Base term, 20 years from filing
Today
Lapsed May 20, 2022
2011
2031
Clock starts
May 25, 2011
May 25, 2011
No longer in force
May 20, 2022
May 20, 2022
Granted
May 20, 2014
May 20, 2014
Term would have run to
May 25, 2031
May 25, 2031
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.
1 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.
34
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 May 25, 2031: 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 May 25, 2011, when this application, 13/115,870, was filed | May 25, 2031 | 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 | 1 of 3 maintenance fees paid | lapsed May 20, 2022 | High confidence |
| Computed term end | The steps above, in order | May 20, 2022 | High confidence |
This family
| US 8,835,069 | Lapsed on the fee record Sep 2022 | Sep 2022 |
| US 8,580,459 | Lapsed on the fee record Nov 2025 | Nov 2025 |
| US 8,667,621 | In force Jan 2033 | Jan 2033 |
| US 9,108,207 | In force Jun 2033 | Jun 2033 |
| US 9,175,460 | In force Feb 2033 | Feb 2033 |
| US 8,444,065 | Lapsed on the fee record May 2025 | May 2025 |
| US 9,328,491 | In force Jun 2034 | Jun 2034 |
| US 8,728,261 | this patent May 2022 | May 2022 |
8 of 34 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 15, 2011 Reel 26753, frame 348 | Ide, Takayuki; Ando, Masami | Toto Ltd. | 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.
Citations
1
later US patent cites this one
That is below the median 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.