Term ended Sep 25, 2026 · High confidence
20-year base term ended Sep 25, 2026
Held by VB Spine LLC
Filed Jan 19, 2016 as application 15/000,642 · Granted May 23, 2017
Base term, 20 years from filing
Today
Term ended Sep 25, 2026
2006
2026
Clock starts
Sep 25, 2006
Sep 25, 2006
Term ended
Sep 25, 2026
Sep 25, 2026
Granted
May 23, 2017
May 23, 2017
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.
None
Terminal disclaimer
No disclaimer on this record.
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.
7
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. 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 Sep 25, 2006, when application 11/526,785, the earliest non-provisional in its chain, was filed (this one was filed Jan 19, 2016) | Sep 25, 2026 | 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 2 maintenance fees paid | term ended | High confidence |
| Computed term end | The steps above, in order | Sep 25, 2026 | High confidence |
This family
| US 8,894,655 | In force Jun 2027 | Jun 2027 |
| US 9,247,977 | In force Dec 2028 | Dec 2028 |
| US 8,979,851 | Term ended Sep 2026 | Sep 2026 |
| US 9,119,684 | In force no later than Nov 2026 | no later than Nov 2026 |
| US 9,655,685 | this patent Sep 2026 | Sep 2026 |
| US 10,070,936 | Term ended Sep 2026 | Sep 2026 |
| US 10,765,488 | In force Jan 2027 | Jan 2027 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 18, 2016 Reel 37766, frame 453 | Fallin, T. Wade; Butters, Joshua A. | Stryker Spine | Assignment of Assignor's Interest |
| Feb 22, 2016 Reel 37876, frame 107 | Stryker Spine SAS | Stryker European Holdings VI, LLC | Confirmatory Assignment |
| Feb 23, 2016 Reel 37883, frame 475 | Stryker European Holdings VI, LLC | Stryker European Holdings I, LLC | Nunc Pro Tunc Assignment |
| Jul 23, 2021 Reel 56969, frame 771 | Stryker European Holdings I, LLC | Stryker European Holdings III, LLC | Nunc Pro Tunc Assignment |
| Jul 23, 2021 Reel 56969, frame 893 | Stryker European Holdings III, LLC | Stryker European Operations Holdings LLC | Change of Name |
| Dec 18, 2024 Reel 69730, frame 754 | Stryker European Operations Holdings LLC | Stryker European Operations Holdings LLC | Change of Address |
| May 12, 2025 Reel 71267, frame 99 | Stryker European Operations Holdings LLC | VB Spine US Opco LLC | Assignment of Assignor's Interest |
| Jun 16, 2025 Reel 71682, frame 116 | K2M, Inc.; VB Spine US Opco LLC; VB Spine LLC | Ankura Trust Company, LLC, as Collateral Agent | Patent Security Agreement |
| Jun 23, 2026 Reel 75812, frame 865 | VB Spine US Opco LLC | VB Spine 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.
Citations
2
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.