Lapsed Mar 8, 2020 on the fee record · High confidence
20-year base term ends May 24, 2032
First maintenance fee unpaid; grace period ended.
Filed Apr 1, 2014 as application 14/242,835 · Granted Mar 8, 2016
Base term, 20 years from filing
Today
Lapsed Mar 8, 2020
2012
2032
Clock starts
May 24, 2012
May 24, 2012
No longer in force
Mar 8, 2020
Mar 8, 2020
Granted
Mar 8, 2016
Mar 8, 2016
Term would have run to
May 24, 2032
May 24, 2032
base term
after the term ends
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.
None
Terminal disclaimer
No disclaimer on this record.
0 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.
4
Family applications on record here
Applications sharing this one's continuity chain whose file history this site holds. The family may have others.
Its term would have run to May 24, 2032: its 20-year base term, with no adjustment for prosecution delay. 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 May 24, 2012, when application 13/479,289, the earliest non-provisional in its chain, was filed (this one was filed Apr 1, 2014) | May 24, 2032 | 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 | None on record | no cap applied | High confidence |
| Patent term extension | None on file | no change | High confidence |
| Fee events | 0 of 3 maintenance fees paid | lapsed Mar 8, 2020 | High confidence |
| Computed term end | The steps above, in order | Mar 8, 2020 | High confidence |
This family
| US 8,684,769 | Lapsed on the fee record Apr 2022 | Apr 2022 |
| US 9,178,319 | In force Jan 2034 | Jan 2034 |
| US 9,252,542 | In force May 2032 | May 2032 |
| US 9,281,625 | this patent Mar 2020 | Mar 2020 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 1, 2014 Reel 32577, frame 561 | Kao, Chien-ping; Little, Terrance F.; Yang, An-jen; Phan, Duong; Hsu, Kuo-chun; Wu, Ming-chuan | Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd. | Assignment of Assignor's Interest |
| Jan 29, 2015 Reel 34836, frame 911 | Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd. | Foxconn Interconnect Technology Limited | 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.
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Alerts on its grants, lapses and transfers.
Citations
5
later US patents cite this one
That is above the median of utility patents granted in 2016 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.