Also listed on The Invention Science Fund I, LLC, an earlier holder on the record. The recorded assignments below show how it moved.
Term ends Nov 28, 2026 · Medium confidence
20-year base term ended Sep 19, 2026
Why Medium: The disclaimer's references carry disclaimers of their own not yet read (US 9,306,975), so the cap could be lower.
Held by Mec Management, LLC
Filed Sep 15, 2010 as application 12/807,908 · Granted Oct 25, 2016
Base term plus 70 days of patent term adjustment (USPTO delay)
Today
2006
2026
Clock starts
Sep 19, 2006
Sep 19, 2006
Term ends
Nov 28, 2026
Nov 28, 2026
Granted
Oct 25, 2016
Oct 25, 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
70
Days of term adjustment
Read from the USPTO patent term adjustment record, not recalculated here.
No effect
Terminal disclaimer
Resolved from the filed document, referencing US 9,306,975, to Nov 28, 2026. 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.
19
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 70 days past its 20-year base term on 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: 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 Sep 19, 2006, when application 11/524,040, the earliest non-provisional in its chain, was filed (this one was filed Sep 15, 2010) | Sep 19, 2026 | High confidence |
| Continuity chain | Every parent in the chain resolved | no change | High confidence |
| Patent term adjustment | +70 days, USPTO patent term adjustment record | Nov 28, 2026 | High confidence |
| Terminal disclaimer cap | Disclaimer resolved from the filed document (refs US 9,306,975) | resolves to Nov 28, 2026, no earlier than this term, so no change | Medium 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 | Nov 28, 2026 | Medium confidence |
This family
| US 9,306,975 | In force (reinstated) no later than Sep 2030 | no later than Sep 2030 |
| Application 11/524,052 | Abandoned not computed | not computed |
| Application 11/524,077 | Abandoned not computed | not computed |
| US 8,224,930 | Lapsed on the fee record Jul 2024 | Jul 2024 |
| US 8,984,579 | In force (reinstated) May 2030 | May 2030 |
| US 8,601,104 | Lapsed on the fee record Dec 2017 | Dec 2017 |
| US 7,752,255 | In force no later than Jun 2028 | no later than Jun 2028 |
| Application 11/640,540 | Abandoned not computed | not computed |
8 of 19 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 24, 2016 Reel 39008, frame 965 | Searete LLC | The Invention Science Fund I, LLC | Assignment of Assignor's Interest |
| Aug 1, 2018 Reel 46521, frame 878 | The Invention Science Fund I, LLC | Bylas District Economic Enterprise, LLC | Assignment of Assignor's Interest |
| Aug 23, 2019 Reel 50143, frame 357 | Bylas District Economic Enterprise LLC | Mec Management, LLC | 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.
What's changing
Nov 2026
Term ends Nov 28, 2026. No further fees fall due before then
Note
The 70 days of patent term adjustment (USPTO delay) are read from the USPTO record, not recalculated by us
Terminal disclaimer
A terminal disclaimer resolved from the filed document, referencing US 9,306,975, ends no earlier than this term, so it caps nothing.
Citations
130
later US patents cite this one
That is top 5% 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.