Lapsed May 2, 2025 on the fee record · High confidence
20-year base term ends Nov 20, 2029
Second maintenance fee unpaid; grace period ended.
Held by Emseal Joint Systems Ltd.
Filed Dec 31, 2012 as application 13/731,327 · Granted May 2, 2017
Base term, 20 years from filing
Today
Lapsed May 2, 2025
2009
2029
Clock starts
Nov 20, 2009
Nov 20, 2009
No longer in force
May 2, 2025
May 2, 2025
Granted
May 2, 2017
May 2, 2017
Term would have run to
Nov 20, 2029
Nov 20, 2029
base term
after the term ends
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 8,341,908, US 8,365,495, US 8,739,495, US 8,813,449, US 8,813,450, US 9,670,666, to Nov 20, 2029. The term already ends on or before that date, so the cap shortened nothing.
1 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.
30
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 Nov 20, 2029: 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. 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 Nov 20, 2009, when application 12/622,574, the earliest non-provisional in its chain, was filed (this one was filed Dec 31, 2012) | Nov 20, 2029 | 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 8,341,908, US 8,365,495, US 8,739,495, US 8,813,449, US 8,813,450, US 9,670,666) | resolves to Nov 20, 2029, no earlier than this term, so no change | High confidence |
| Patent term extension | None on file | no change | High confidence |
| Fee events | 1 of 3 maintenance fees paid | lapsed May 2, 2025 | High confidence |
| Computed term end | The steps above, in order | May 2, 2025 | High confidence |
This family
| US 8,365,495 | Lapsed on the fee record Feb 2021 | Feb 2021 |
| US 9,200,437 | In force Feb 2030 | Feb 2030 |
| US 9,322,163 | Lapsed on the fee record Apr 2024 | Apr 2024 |
| Application 61/729,040 | Provisional application no patent term | no patent term |
| US 8,739,495 | Lapsed on the fee record Jun 2022 | Jun 2022 |
| US 9,670,666 | Lapsed on the fee record Jun 2025 | Jun 2025 |
| US 9,637,915 | this patent May 2025 | May 2025 |
| Application 61/806,194 | Provisional application no patent term | no patent term |
8 of 30 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 12, 2013 Reel 30205, frame 139 | Hensley, Lester; Witherspoon, Bill | Emseal Joint Systems Ltd. | 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.
Terminal disclaimer
A terminal disclaimer resolved from the filed document, referencing US 8,341,908, US 8,365,495, US 8,739,495, US 8,813,449, US 8,813,450, US 9,670,666, ends no earlier than this term, so it caps nothing.
Citations
68
later US patents cite this one
That is top 5% 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.