Term ends Dec 12, 2026 · Medium confidence

Computed 20-year base term

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

Held by Shell USA, Inc.

Filed Jul 19, 2012 as application 13/553,505 · Granted Jul 7, 2015

Base term, 20 years from filing

Today

20 years from filing

Term ends Dec 12, 2026

2006 2026

Clock starts
Dec 12, 2006

Term ends
Dec 12, 2026

Granted
Jul 7, 2015

base term 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

None

Term adjustment

No prosecution delay on this record.

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.

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. 2 of 2 maintenance fees are paid so far. 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 Dec 12, 2006, when application 11/609,742, the earliest non-provisional in its chain, was filed (this one was filed Jul 19, 2012); a parent in its chain could not be resolved (the next row)	Dec 12, 2026	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	None on file	no change	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	2 of 2 maintenance fees paid	In force	High confidence
Computed term end	The steps above, in order	Dec 12, 2026	Medium confidence

This family

Application 11/609,742	Abandoned not computed	not computed
Application 13/324,166	Abandoned not computed	not computed
US 9,074,153	this patent Dec 2026	Dec 2026

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 19, 2012 Reel 28591, frame 837	Landschof, Jorg; Macknay, Michael Clifford; Shea, Timothy Michael	Shell Oil Company	Assignment of Assignor's Interest
Mar 7, 2022 Reel 59694, frame 819	Shell Oil Company	Shell USA, Inc.	Change of Name

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

Dec 2026

Term ends Dec 12, 2026. No further fees fall due before then

Citations

later US patents cite this one

That is above the median 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.

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