Term ends Oct 31, 2028 · Medium confidence
20-year base term ends Sep 22, 2030
Why Medium: A parent in the chain could not be resolved.
Held by Auterra, Inc.
Filed Jan 21, 2014 as application 14/159,833 · Granted Feb 24, 2015
Base term, 20 years from filing · capped by a resolved terminal disclaimer
Today
2010
2030
Clock starts
Sep 22, 2010
Sep 22, 2010
Term ends
Oct 31, 2028
Oct 31, 2028
Granted
Feb 24, 2015
Feb 24, 2015
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.
Capped
Terminal disclaimer
Resolved from the filed document, referencing US 8,241,490, US 8,298,404, US 8,764,973.
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.
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 resolved from the filed document caps it earlier. 2 of 3 maintenance fees are paid so far. Confidence: Medium. 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 Sep 22, 2010, when application 12/888,049, the earliest non-provisional in its chain, was filed (this one was filed Jan 21, 2014); a parent in its chain could not be resolved (the next row) | Sep 22, 2030 | High confidence |
| Continuity chain | A parent in the chain could not be resolved | dated from this application's own claim | Medium confidence |
| Patent term adjustment | None on file | no change | High confidence |
| Terminal disclaimer cap | Disclaimer resolved from the filed document (refs US 8,241,490, US 8,298,404, US 8,764,973) | capped to Oct 31, 2028 | High confidence |
| Patent term extension | None on file | no change | High confidence |
| Fee events | 2 of 3 maintenance fees paid | In force | High confidence |
| Computed term end | The steps above, in order | Oct 31, 2028 | Medium confidence |
This family
| Application PCT/US2008/082095 | PCT application no patent term | no patent term |
| US 8,298,404 | In force Dec 2028 | Dec 2028 |
| US 8,394,261 | In force Oct 2028 | Oct 2028 |
| US 8,241,490 | In force Dec 2028 | Dec 2028 |
| US 8,764,973 | Lapsed on the fee record Jul 2026 | Jul 2026 |
| Application PCT/US2012/070243 | PCT application no patent term | no patent term |
| US 8,961,779 | this patent Oct 2028 | Oct 2028 |
| Application 14/246,508 | Abandoned not computed | not computed |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 21, 2014 Reel 32009, frame 503 | Litz, Kyle E.; Vreeland, Jennifer L.; Rankin, Jonathan P.; Delancey, Thomas W.; Thompson, Timothy A. | Auterra, Inc. | 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.
What's changing
Oct 2028
Term ends Oct 31, 2028.
Disclaimer cap
This term is capped by a terminal disclaimer resolved from the filed document, referencing US 8,241,490, US 8,298,404, US 8,764,973.
Citations
20
later US patents cite this one
That is top 25% of utility patents granted in 2015 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.
In force means the term is running and no lapse is on record. It is not a finding that the patent is valid.