Term ends Jan 21, 2032 · Medium confidence
20-year base term ends Aug 8, 2031
Why Medium: A parent in the chain could not be resolved.
Held by Quarkstar LLC
Filed Aug 8, 2012 as application 13/570,243 · Granted May 12, 2015
Base term plus 166 days of patent term adjustment (USPTO delay)
Today
2011
2032
Clock starts
Aug 8, 2011
Aug 8, 2011
Term ends
Jan 21, 2032
Jan 21, 2032
Granted
May 12, 2015
May 12, 2015
base term
patent term adjustment
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
166
Days of term adjustment
Read from the USPTO patent term adjustment record, not recalculated here.
None
Terminal disclaimer
No disclaimer on this record.
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.
15
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 166 days past its 20-year base term on prosecution delay. 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 Aug 8, 2011, when application 13/205,548, the earliest non-provisional in its chain, was filed (this one was filed Aug 8, 2012); a parent in its chain could not be resolved (the next row) | Aug 8, 2031 | 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 | +166 days, USPTO patent term adjustment record | Jan 21, 2032 | 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 | 3 of 3 maintenance fees paid | In force | High confidence |
| Computed term end | The steps above, in order | Jan 21, 2032 | Medium confidence |
This family
| US 8,573,823 | In force Oct 2031 | Oct 2031 |
| US 9,028,120 | this patent Jan 2032 | Jan 2032 |
| Application PCT/US2012/050046 | PCT application no patent term | no patent term |
| US 8,506,112 | In force Aug 2031 | Aug 2031 |
| US 8,602,586 | In force Aug 2031 | Aug 2031 |
| US 9,081,125 | In force Dec 2031 | Dec 2031 |
| US 8,833,969 | In force Aug 2031 | Aug 2031 |
| US 8,899,808 | In force Aug 2031 | Aug 2031 |
8 of 15 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 7, 2012 Reel 28915, frame 834 | Dau, Wilson; Gardner, Robert C.; Lerman, George; Lerman, Louis; Lowery, Christopher H.; Ogonowsky, Brian D.; Smith, George E.; Speier, Ingo; Steele, Robert V.; Teng, Jacqueline; York, Allan Brent | Quarkstar LLC | 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 2032
Term ends Jan 21, 2032. No further fees fall due before then
Note
The 166 days of patent term adjustment (USPTO delay) are read from the USPTO record, not recalculated by us
Citations
108
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.