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Multiple Contact Probes

US 8,988,091 Term ended
OverviewFamilyAssignmentsSources & methods
Collateral for a security interest recorded Jul 29, 2025 (Wells Fargo Bank, National Association).

Term ended Nov 10, 2026 · Medium confidence

Why Medium: A parent in the chain could not be resolved.

Filed Sep 13, 2010 as application 12/880,808 · Granted Mar 24, 2015
Base term plus 903 days of patent term adjustment (USPTO delay)
Today
20 years from filing
Term ended Nov 10, 2026
2004 2026
Clock starts
May 21, 2004
Term ended
Nov 10, 2026
Granted
Mar 24, 2015
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
903
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 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.
33
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 runs 903 days past its 20-year base term on prosecution delay. 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.
StepInputDate after this stepConfidence
Base term, 20 years from filingClock starts May 21, 2004, when application 10/850,921, the earliest non-provisional in its chain, was filed (this one was filed Sep 13, 2010); a parent in its chain could not be resolved (the next row)May 21, 2024High confidence
Continuity chainA parent in the chain could not be resolveddated from this application's own claimMedium confidence
Patent term adjustment+903 days, USPTO patent term adjustment recordNov 10, 2026High confidence
Terminal disclaimer capNone on recordno cap appliedHigh confidence
Patent term extensionNone on fileno changeHigh confidence
Fee events2 of 2 maintenance fees paidterm endedHigh confidence
Computed term endThe steps above, in orderNov 10, 2026Medium confidence

This family

US 7,148,709Term ended
Jul 2024
Jul 2024
US 7,091,729Lapsed on the fee record
Aug 2018
Aug 2018
US 7,312,617Surrendered on reissue
Aug 2013
Aug 2013
US 7,733,101Term ended
Dec 2024
Dec 2024
US 7,759,949Term ended
Jan 2025
Jan 2025
US 7,659,739Term ended
Sep 2026
Sep 2026
US 7,786,740In force
Feb 2027
Feb 2027
US 7,649,367In force
Dec 2027
Dec 2027
8 of 33 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.
RecordedAssignorAssigneeConveyance
Nov 24, 2010
Reel 25422, frame 104
Kister, JanuaryMicroprobe, Inc.Assignment of Assignor's Interest
Jul 12, 2016
Reel 39184, frame 280
FormFactor, Inc.; Astria Semiconductor Holdings, Inc.; Cascade Microtech, Inc.; Micro-Probe IncorporatedHSBC Bank USA, National AssociationSecurity Interest in United States Patents and Trademarks
Jul 29, 2025
Reel 72263, frame 272
FormFactor, Inc.Wells Fargo Bank, National Association, as Administrative AgentSecurity Interest
Aug 7, 2025
Reel 72853, frame 1
HSBC Bank USA, National AssociationFormFactor, Inc.Release of Security 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.

The Patent Finder CompaniesExpirationsCalculatorWatchlistPricing MethodologyCorrectionsLegalPrivacysupport@thepatentfinder.com Updated Nov 14, 2026 · includes USPTO assignment & status data published Nov 14, 2026 and grant & fee data published Nov 10, 2026 (weekly) Part of 137 Finder · © 2026 137 Finder LLC · Sources cited