Term ended Dec 30, 2023 · High confidence
20-year base term ended Dec 30, 2023
Held by Meta Platforms, Inc.
Filed Feb 13, 2012 as application 13/372,371 · Granted Oct 28, 2014
Base term, 20 years from filing
Today
Term ended Dec 30, 2023
2003
2026
Clock starts
Dec 30, 2003
Dec 30, 2003
Term ended
Dec 30, 2023
Dec 30, 2023
Granted
Oct 28, 2014
Oct 28, 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.
No effect
Terminal disclaimer
Resolved from the filed document, referencing US 8,117,265, to Dec 30, 2023. The term already ends on or before that date, so the cap shortened nothing.
2 of 2
Maintenance fees paid
Two maintenance fees can end this term early, the ones due 3.5 and 7.5 years from grant; the third one's grace period runs past the term end. This counts the ones the record shows paid.
11
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. A terminal disclaimer is resolved from the filed document, and it ends no earlier than this term, so it shortens nothing. 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 Dec 30, 2003, when application 10/747,682, the earliest non-provisional in its chain, was filed (this one was filed Feb 13, 2012) | Dec 30, 2023 | 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 | Disclaimer resolved from the filed document (refs US 8,117,265) | resolves to Dec 30, 2023, no earlier than this term, so no change | High confidence |
| Patent term extension | None on file | no change | High confidence |
| Fee events | 2 of 2 maintenance fees paid | term ended | High confidence |
| Computed term end | The steps above, in order | Dec 30, 2023 | High confidence |
This family
| Application 10/747,651 | Abandoned not computed | not computed |
| US 7,603,417 | In force Nov 2026 | Nov 2026 |
| Application 10/747,676 | Abandoned not computed | not computed |
| US 8,117,265 | Lapsed on the fee record Feb 2024 | Feb 2024 |
| Application PCT/US2004/009422 | PCT application no patent term | no patent term |
| US 8,874,672 | this patent Dec 2023 | Dec 2023 |
| US 9,531,826 | Term ended May 2024 | May 2024 |
| US 9,516,125 | Term ended May 2024 | May 2024 |
8 of 11 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 25, 2012 Reel 28105, frame 681 | AOL LLC | AOL Inc. | Assignment of Assignor's Interest |
| Apr 25, 2012 Reel 28105, frame 804 | Ben-yoseph, Roy | America Online, Inc. | Assignment of Assignor's Interest |
| Apr 25, 2012 Reel 28108, frame 304 | America Online, Inc. | AOL LLC | Change of Name |
| Jul 18, 2012 Reel 28574, frame 816 | AOL Inc. | Facebook, Inc. | Assignment of Assignor's Interest |
| Dec 20, 2021 Reel 58961, frame 436 | Facebook, Inc. | Meta Platforms, Inc. | 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.
Terminal disclaimer
A terminal disclaimer resolved from the filed document, referencing US 8,117,265, ends no earlier than this term, so it caps nothing.
Citations
64
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.