Term ends Jan 18, 2030 · Medium confidence
20-year base term ended Apr 16, 2024
Why Medium: A parent in the chain could not be resolved.
Held by Illinois Tool Works Inc.
Filed Dec 12, 2006 as application 11/609,871 · Granted Apr 21, 2015
Base term plus 2103 days of patent term adjustment (USPTO delay)
Today
2004
2030
Clock starts
Apr 16, 2004
Apr 16, 2004
Term ends
Jan 18, 2030
Jan 18, 2030
Granted
Apr 21, 2015
Apr 21, 2015
base term
patent term adjustment
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
2,103
Days of term adjustment
Read from the USPTO patent term adjustment record, not recalculated here.
No effect
Terminal disclaimer
Resolved from the filed document, referencing US 8,592,724, to Jan 18, 2030. The term already ends on or before that date, so the cap shortened nothing.
3 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.
8
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 2103 days past its 20-year base term on prosecution delay. A terminal disclaimer is resolved from the filed document, and it ends no earlier than this term, so it shortens nothing. All three maintenance fees are recorded paid; no more fees are due. 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 Apr 16, 2004, when application 10/709,148, the earliest non-provisional in its chain, was filed (this one was filed Dec 12, 2006); a parent in its chain could not be resolved (the next row) | Apr 16, 2024 | 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 | +2103 days, USPTO patent term adjustment record | Jan 18, 2030 | High confidence |
| Terminal disclaimer cap | Disclaimer resolved from the filed document (refs US 8,592,724) | resolves to Jan 18, 2030, no earlier than this term, so no change | High confidence |
| Patent term extension | None on file | no change | High confidence |
| Fee events | 3 of 3 maintenance fees paid | In force | High confidence |
| Computed term end | The steps above, in order | Jan 18, 2030 | Medium confidence |
This family
| US 7,180,029 | Term ended Feb 2025 | Feb 2025 |
| US 8,592,724 | In force Jan 2030 | Jan 2030 |
| US 9,012,807 | this patent Jan 2030 | Jan 2030 |
| US 9,162,311 | Term ended Feb 2025 | Feb 2025 |
| Application PCT/US2007/003672 | PCT application no patent term | no patent term |
| US 10,758,994 | Term ended Apr 2024 | Apr 2024 |
| US 11,517,972 | Term ended Apr 2025 | Apr 2025 |
| US 11,235,413 | Term ended Apr 2024 | Apr 2024 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dec 12, 2006 Reel 18622, frame 59 | Ott, Brian L.; Schartner, Quinn | Illinois Tool Works 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.
Free plan: 3 watched companies. Pro: unlimited.
Alerts on its grants, lapses and transfers.
What's changing
Jan 2030
Term ends Jan 18, 2030. No further fees fall due before then
Note
The 2103 days of patent term adjustment (USPTO delay) are read from the USPTO record, not recalculated by us
Terminal disclaimer
A terminal disclaimer resolved from the filed document, referencing US 8,592,724, ends no earlier than this term, so it caps nothing.
Citations
87
later US patents cite this one
That is top 5% 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.