Term ends Jan 14, 2033 · High confidence
20-year base term ends Jan 14, 2033
Held by Altria Client Services LLC
Filed Jan 8, 2016 as application 14/991,449 · Granted Oct 25, 2016
Base term, 20 years from filing
Today
2013
2033
Clock starts
Jan 14, 2013
Jan 14, 2013
Term ends
Jan 14, 2033
Jan 14, 2033
Granted
Oct 25, 2016
Oct 25, 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.
None
Terminal disclaimer
No disclaimer on this record.
2 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.
33
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 3 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 Jan 14, 2013, when application 13/741,217, the earliest non-provisional in its chain, was filed (this one was filed Jan 8, 2016) | Jan 14, 2033 | 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 | 2 of 3 maintenance fees paid | In force | High confidence |
| Computed term end | The steps above, in order | Jan 14, 2033 | High confidence |
This family
| US 9,282,772 | In force May 2034 | May 2034 |
| US 9,326,547 | In force Jan 2034 | Jan 2034 |
| US 9,854,839 | In force Oct 2034 | Oct 2034 |
| US 9,510,623 | In force Feb 2034 | Feb 2034 |
| US 8,997,754 | In force Jun 2033 | Jun 2033 |
| US 9,004,073 | In force Jun 2033 | Jun 2033 |
| US 9,474,306 | this patent Jan 2033 | Jan 2033 |
| Application 15/049,573 | Abandoned not computed | not computed |
8 of 33 applications in this family shown, earliest filings first. The applications whose file history this site holds. The family may have others.
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
Jan 2033
Term ends Jan 14, 2033. Maintenance fees still fall due before then
Citations
29
later US patents cite this one
That is top 25% 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.