The Patent Finder
US

Apparatus for the Production of Water Absorbing Polymers

US 9,238,215 In force
OverviewFamilyAssignmentsSources & methods

Term ends Nov 25, 2026 · Medium confidence

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

Held by BASF SE
Filed Oct 25, 2013 as application 14/063,129 · Granted Jan 19, 2016
Base term plus 247 days of patent term adjustment (USPTO delay)
Today
20 years from filing
2006 2026
Clock starts
Mar 23, 2006
Term ends
Nov 25, 2026
Granted
Jan 19, 2016
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
247
Days of term adjustment
Read from the USPTO patent term adjustment record, not recalculated here.
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.
3
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 247 days past its 20-year base term on 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.
StepInputDate after this stepConfidence
Base term, 20 years from filingClock starts Mar 23, 2006, when application PCT/EP2006/061010, the earliest non-provisional in its chain, was filed (this one was filed Oct 25, 2013); a parent in its chain could not be resolved (the next row)Mar 23, 2026High confidence
Continuity chainA parent in the chain could not be resolveddated from this application's own claimMedium confidence
Patent term adjustment+247 days, USPTO patent term adjustment recordNov 25, 2026High confidence
Terminal disclaimer capNone on recordno cap appliedHigh confidence
Patent term extensionNone on fileno changeHigh confidence
Fee events2 of 2 maintenance fees paidIn forceHigh confidence
Computed term endThe steps above, in orderNov 25, 2026Medium confidence

This family

US 9,238,215this patent
Nov 2026
Nov 2026
1 of 3 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.
RecordedAssignorAssigneeConveyance
Jan 15, 2014
Reel 31975, frame 505
Weismantel, Matthias; Bruhns, Stefan; Van Esbroeck, DominicusBASF SEAssignment 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.

The Patent Finder CompaniesExpirationsCalculatorWatchlistPricing MethodologyCorrectionsLegalPrivacysupport@thepatentfinder.com Updated Nov 14, 2026 · includes USPTO assignment & status data published Nov 14, 2026 and grant & fee data published Nov 10, 2026 (weekly) Part of 137 Finder · © 2026 137 Finder LLC · Sources cited