Method and system for digital rights management of documents

US 9,003,548 Lapsed on the fee record

Overview Sources & methods

Lapsed Apr 7, 2023 on the fee record · From the USPTO record

Computed 20-year base term

Second maintenance fee unpaid; grace period ended.

Named at grant NL Systems, LLC · find this owner

Filed Apr 13, 2004 as application 10/823,042 · Granted Apr 7, 2015

Base term, 20 years from filing, plus 1331 days of patent term adjustment (USPTO delay)

Today

Lapsed Apr 7, 2023

2004 2027

Clock starts
Apr 13, 2004

No longer in force
Apr 7, 2023

Granted
Apr 7, 2015

Term would have run to
Dec 5, 2027

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

1,331

Days of term adjustment

Read from the USPTO patent term adjustment record, not recalculated here.

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.

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 Apr 13, 2004, when this application, 10/823,042, was filed	Apr 13, 2024	High confidence
Continuity chain	Every parent in the chain resolved	no change	High confidence
Patent term adjustment	+1331 days, USPTO patent term adjustment record	Dec 5, 2027	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 Apr 7, 2023	High confidence
Computed term end	The steps above, in order	Apr 7, 2023	From the USPTO record

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.

Not on this page: the patent's family, its recorded assignments and its citation count. USPTO's assignment records, linked above, list every recorded assignment.

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.

Method and system for digital rights management of documents

Lapsed Apr 7, 2023 on the fee record · From the USPTO record

20-year base term ended Apr 13, 2024

How we calculated this date

Sources