Term ends Feb 6, 2027 · High confidence
20-year base term ends Feb 6, 2027
Held by Nuance Communications, Inc.
Filed Aug 26, 2015 as application 14/836,606 · Granted Aug 2, 2016
Base term, 20 years from filing
Today
2007
2027
Clock starts
Feb 6, 2007
Feb 6, 2007
Term ends
Feb 6, 2027
Feb 6, 2027
Granted
Aug 2, 2016
Aug 2, 2016
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.
No effect
Terminal disclaimer
Resolved from the filed document, referencing US 7,818,176, US 8,145,489, US 8,527,274, US 8,886,536, to Feb 6, 2027. 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.
11
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. 2 of 2 maintenance fees are paid so far. 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 6, 2007, when application 11/671,526, the earliest non-provisional in its chain, was filed (this one was filed Aug 26, 2015) | Feb 6, 2027 | 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 7,818,176, US 8,145,489, US 8,527,274, US 8,886,536) | resolves to Feb 6, 2027, 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 | In force | High confidence |
| Computed term end | The steps above, in order | Feb 6, 2027 | High confidence |
This family
| US 7,818,176 | In force Feb 2029 | Feb 2029 |
| Application PCT/US2008/053157 | PCT application no patent term | no patent term |
| US 8,145,489 | In force Feb 2027 | Feb 2027 |
| US 8,527,274 | In force Feb 2027 | Feb 2027 |
| US 8,886,536 | In force Feb 2027 | Feb 2027 |
| US 9,269,097 | In force Feb 2027 | Feb 2027 |
| US 9,406,078 | this patent Feb 2027 | Feb 2027 |
| US 10,134,060 | In force Jun 2027 | Jun 2027 |
8 of 11 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 26, 2015 Reel 36429, frame 875 | Freeman, Tom; Kennewick, Mike | Voicebox Technologies, Inc. | Assignment of Assignor's Interest |
| Aug 26, 2015 Reel 36475, frame 253 | Voicebox Technologies, Inc. | Voicebox Technologies Corporation | Merger |
| Dec 22, 2017 Reel 44949, frame 948 | Voicebox Technologies Corporation | Orix Growth Capital, LLC | Security Interest |
| Apr 5, 2018 Reel 45581, frame 630 | Orix Growth Capital, LLC | Voicebox Technologies Corporation | Release of Security Interest |
| Jul 25, 2018 Reel 46456, frame 128 | Voicebox Technologies Corporation | VB Assets, LLC | Nunc Pro Tunc Assignment |
| Apr 12, 2019 Reel 48872, frame 831 | VB Assets, LLC | Delphi Asset Management Corporation | Security Interest |
| Jun 13, 2019 Reel 49459, frame 596 | Delphi Asset Management Corporation | VB Assets, LLC | Release of Security Interest |
| Jan 22, 2020 Reel 51581, frame 216 | VB Assetts LLC | Nuance Communications, Inc. | Assignment of Assignor's Interest |
| Sep 22, 2020 Reel 53851, frame 873 | Voicebox Technologies Corporation | VB Assets, LLC | Corrective Assignment to Correct the Assignor's Name and Assignee's Name Previously Recorded at Reel: 051581 Frame: 0216. Assignor(S) Hereby Confirms the Assignment of Assignor's Interest.. |
| Apr 8, 2025 Reel 70767, frame 583 | VB Assets, LLC | Contingency Capital Fund a LP | Security Interest |
| May 13, 2026 Reel 74649, frame 467 | Contingency Capital Fund a LP | VB Assets, LLC | Release of Security 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.
What's changing
Feb 2027
Term ends Feb 6, 2027. No further fees fall due before then
Terminal disclaimer
A terminal disclaimer resolved from the filed document, referencing US 7,818,176, US 8,145,489, US 8,527,274, US 8,886,536, ends no earlier than this term, so it caps nothing.
Citations
58
later US patents cite this one
That is top 10% 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.
In force means the term is running and no lapse is on record. It is not a finding that the patent is valid.