Term ended no later than Feb 3, 2024 · Medium confidence
20-year base term ended Feb 3, 2024
Held by RTC Industries Inc.
Filed Jun 19, 2014 as application 14/308,989 · Granted Oct 31, 2017
Base term, 20 years from filing
Today
Ended no later than Feb 3, 2024
2004
2026
Clock starts
Feb 3, 2004
Feb 3, 2004
Ended no later than
Feb 3, 2024
Feb 3, 2024
Granted
Oct 31, 2017
Oct 31, 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.
Unresolved
Terminal disclaimer
On file, reference document not resolved, so the date above is an upper bound. We do not guess the cap.
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. A terminal disclaimer is on file with no resolved reference, so no cap is applied and none is guessed. 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 3, 2004, when application 10/772,010, the earliest non-provisional in its chain, was filed (this one was filed Jun 19, 2014) | Feb 3, 2024 | 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 on file (approved), reference document not resolved | no cap applied, and none guessed | Medium 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 | no later than Feb 3, 2024 | Medium confidence |
This family
| US 7,792,711 | In force Jun 2027 | Jun 2027 |
| US 8,938,396 | Term ended Oct 2026 | Oct 2026 |
| US 8,812,378 | Term ended Feb 2024 | Feb 2024 |
| US 9,805,539 | this patent no later than Feb 2024 | no later than Feb 2024 |
| US 10,535,216 | Lapsed on the fee record Jan 2024 | Jan 2024 |
| US 11,580,812 | Term ended Feb 2024 | Feb 2024 |
The applications whose file history this site holds. The family may have others.
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
Note
A terminal disclaimer is on file and its reference is not resolved. No cap is applied and none is guessed
Open question
A terminal disclaimer is on file (approved) and its reference document is not resolved. A disclaimer would cap the term earlier than Feb 3, 2024. We will not guess the cap.
Citations
52
later US patents cite this one
That is top 10% 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
This computed term ends no later than the date shown; an unresolved terminal disclaimer may end it earlier. Related patents and pending applications may cover overlapping subject matter.