Also listed on Despatch Industries Limited Partnership, an earlier holder on the record. The recorded assignments below show how it moved.
Term ends Aug 13, 2034 · High confidence
20-year base term ends Apr 21, 2034
Held by Illinois Tool Works Inc.
Filed Apr 21, 2014 as application 14/257,383 · Granted Mar 21, 2017
Base term plus 114 days of patent term adjustment (USPTO delay)
Today
2014
2034
Clock starts
Apr 21, 2014
Apr 21, 2014
Term ends
Aug 13, 2034
Aug 13, 2034
Granted
Mar 21, 2017
Mar 21, 2017
base term
patent term adjustment
fee events
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
114
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 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.
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 114 days past its 20-year base term on 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 Apr 21, 2014, when this application, 14/257,383, was filed | Apr 21, 2034 | High confidence |
| Continuity chain | Every parent in the chain resolved | no change | High confidence |
| Patent term adjustment | +114 days, USPTO patent term adjustment record | Aug 13, 2034 | 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 | Aug 13, 2034 | High confidence |
This family
| US 9,598,795 | this patent Aug 2034 | Aug 2034 |
| Application PCT/US2014/035326 | PCT application no patent term | no patent term |
| US 9,809,909 | In force Apr 2034 | Apr 2034 |
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 21, 2014 Reel 32719, frame 58 | Melgaard, Hans L. | Despatch Industries Limited Partnership | Assignment of Assignor's Interest |
| Nov 16, 2016 Reel 40346, frame 914 | Despatch Industries Limited Partnership | Illinois Tool Works Inc. | 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.
Free plan: 3 watched companies. Pro: unlimited.
Alerts on its grants, lapses and transfers.
What's changing
Aug 2034
Term ends Aug 13, 2034. Maintenance fees still fall due before then
Note
The 114 days of patent term adjustment (USPTO delay) are read from the USPTO record, not recalculated by us
Citations
3
later US patents cite this one
That is below the median of utility patents granted in 2017 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.