Term ends Feb 27, 2028 · Medium confidence
20-year base term ends Feb 27, 2028
Why Medium: A parent in the chain could not be resolved.
Held by IPS Group Inc.
Filed Apr 28, 2015 as application 14/698,806 · Granted Jun 20, 2017
USPTO first gave this application the number US 9,640,016 and withdrew it before it issued. That number now leads here.
Base term, 20 years from filing
Today
2008
2028
Clock starts
Feb 27, 2008
Feb 27, 2008
Term ends
Feb 27, 2028
Feb 27, 2028
Granted
Jun 20, 2017
Jun 20, 2017
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 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.
6
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 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 Feb 27, 2008, when application 12/072,524, the earliest non-provisional in its chain, was filed (this one was filed Apr 28, 2015); a parent in its chain could not be resolved (the next row) | Feb 27, 2028 | High confidence |
| Continuity chain | A parent in the chain could not be resolved | dated from this application's own claim | Medium 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 | In force | High confidence |
| Computed term end | The steps above, in order | Feb 27, 2028 | Medium confidence |
This family
| US 7,854,310 | In force Jun 2028 | Jun 2028 |
| US 8,590,687 | In force Feb 2028 | Feb 2028 |
| Application 14/059,260 | Abandoned not computed | not computed |
| US 9,685,027 | this patent Feb 2028 | Feb 2028 |
| US 10,089,814 | In force Feb 2028 | Feb 2028 |
| Application 16/100,569 | Abandoned not computed | not computed |
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 2, 2015 Reel 35765, frame 200 | King, David William; Hunter, Murray David Kirby; Hall, Matthew James; Jones, David Andrew | IPS Group Inc. | Assignment of Assignor's Interest |
| Feb 25, 2019 Reel 48430, frame 19 | IPS Group Inc. | Pacific Mercantile Bank | Supplement to Intellectual Property Security Agreement |
| Oct 4, 2020 Reel 53967, frame 956 | Schwarz, Alexander | IPS Group Inc. | Assignment of Assignor's Interest |
| Jul 26, 2022 Reel 60926, frame 645 | Banc of California (FKA Pacific Mercantile Bank) | IPS Group Inc. | Termination and Release of Intellectual Property Security Agreement |
| Jul 28, 2022 Reel 61002, frame 572 | IPS Group Inc. | The Governor and Company of the Bank of Ireland | Intellectual Property Security Agreement |
| Oct 6, 2026 Reel 76655, frame 845 | The Governor and Company of the Bank of Ireland, as Collateral Agent | IPS Group Inc. | Termination and Release of Intellectual Property Security Agreement |
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
Feb 2028
Term ends Feb 27, 2028. No further fees fall due before then
Citations
74
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.
In force means the term is running and no lapse is on record. It is not a finding that the patent is valid.