Lapsed Jul 1, 2026 on the fee record · High confidence
20-year base term ended Jan 31, 2026
Third maintenance fee unpaid; grace period ended.
Held by Cilag GmbH International
Filed Mar 1, 2011 as application 13/037,566 · Granted Jul 1, 2014
Base term, 20 years from filing, plus 251 days of patent term adjustment (USPTO delay)
Today
Lapsed Jul 1, 2026
2006
2026
Clock starts
Jan 31, 2006
Jan 31, 2006
No longer in force
Jul 1, 2026
Jul 1, 2026
Granted
Jul 1, 2014
Jul 1, 2014
Term would have run to
Oct 9, 2026
Oct 9, 2026
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
251
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.
97
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 Oct 9, 2026: its 20-year base term plus 251 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 31, 2006, when application 11/343,803, the earliest non-provisional in its chain, was filed (this one was filed Mar 1, 2011) | Jan 31, 2026 | High confidence |
| Continuity chain | Every parent in the chain resolved | no change | High confidence |
| Patent term adjustment | +251 days, USPTO patent term adjustment record | Oct 9, 2026 | 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 Jul 1, 2026 | High confidence |
| Computed term end | The steps above, in order | Jul 1, 2026 | High confidence |
This family
| US 7,845,537 | In force Oct 2029 | Oct 2029 |
| US 8,161,977 | In force Apr 2027 | Apr 2027 |
| Application 12/693,460 | Abandoned not computed | not computed |
| Application 12/846,228 | Abandoned not computed | not computed |
| US 8,167,185 | Term ended Jan 2026 | Jan 2026 |
| US 8,157,153 | Term ended Jan 2026 | Jan 2026 |
| US 8,172,124 | Term ended Jan 2026 | Jan 2026 |
| US 8,763,879 | this patent Jul 2026 | Jul 2026 |
8 of 97 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 18, 2011 Reel 25980, frame 882 | Shelton, Frederick E., IV; Morgan, Jerome J. | 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 251 days of patent term adjustment (USPTO delay) are read from the USPTO record, not recalculated by us
Citations
2,164
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.