Term ended Feb 9, 2026 · High confidence
20-year base term ended Feb 9, 2026
Held by Gentex Corporation
Filed Sep 2, 2011 as application 13/224,559 · Granted Jul 7, 2015
Base term, 20 years from filing
Today
Term ended Feb 9, 2026
2006
2026
Clock starts
Feb 9, 2006
Feb 9, 2006
Term ended
Feb 9, 2026
Feb 9, 2026
Granted
Jul 7, 2015
Jul 7, 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.
No effect
Terminal disclaimer
Resolved from the filed document, referencing US 8,028,344, to Feb 9, 2026. The term already ends on or before that date, so the cap shortened nothing.
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.
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 is its 20-year base term, with no adjustment for prosecution delay. A terminal disclaimer is resolved from the filed document, and it ends no earlier than this term, so it shortens nothing. Confidence: High. 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 Feb 9, 2006, when application 11/350,591, the earliest non-provisional in its chain, was filed (this one was filed Sep 2, 2011) | Feb 9, 2026 | High confidence |
| Continuity chain | Every parent in the chain resolved | no change | High confidence |
| Patent term adjustment | None on file | no change | High confidence |
| Terminal disclaimer cap | Disclaimer resolved from the filed document (refs US 8,028,344) | resolves to Feb 9, 2026, no earlier than this term, so no change | High confidence |
| Patent term extension | None on file | no change | High confidence |
| Fee events | 2 of 2 maintenance fees paid | term ended | High confidence |
| Computed term end | The steps above, in order | Feb 9, 2026 | High confidence |
This family
| US 7,908,667 | In force no later than Apr 2028 | no later than Apr 2028 |
| US 8,028,344 | In force Mar 2029 | Mar 2029 |
| US 9,072,328 | this patent Feb 2026 | Feb 2026 |
| US 9,717,294 | In force Jul 2027 | Jul 2027 |
| US D750,846 | In force Mar 2031 | Mar 2031 |
| US D750,847 | In force Mar 2031 | Mar 2031 |
| US 11,672,296 | Term ended Feb 2026 | Feb 2026 |
| US D895,211 | In force Sep 2035 | Sep 2035 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 9, 2012 Reel 28510, frame 443 | Rogers, David C.; Rogers, Charles H.; Keith-lucas, Darwin | Artisent, Inc. | Assignment of Assignor's Interest |
| Jul 17, 2012 Reel 28562, frame 148 | Artisent, Inc. | GC Boston Acquisition, LLC | Assignment of Assignor's Interest |
| Jul 17, 2012 Reel 28571, frame 678 | GC Boston Acquisition, LLC | Artisent, LLC | Change of Name |
| Jun 5, 2017 Reel 42597, frame 71 | Artisent, LLC | Gentex Corporation | 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.
Terminal disclaimer
A terminal disclaimer resolved from the filed document, referencing US 8,028,344, ends no earlier than this term, so it caps nothing.
Citations
73
later US patents cite this one
That is top 10% 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.