Term ends no later than Jul 27, 2032 · Medium confidence

Computed 20-year base term

In force on USPTO's status record and by its fee record. A terminal disclaimer on file may shorten this term, possibly to a date already past; its reference document is unresolved, so the date above is an upper bound and no earlier date is guessed.

Held by Ventana Medical Systems, Inc.

Filed Dec 27, 2016 as application 15/390,854 · Granted Feb 27, 2018

Base term, 20 years from filing

Today

20 years from filing

Ends no later than Jul 27, 2032

2012 2032

Clock starts
Jul 27, 2012

Ends no later than
Jul 27, 2032

Granted
Feb 27, 2018

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.

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 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.

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. 2 of 3 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 Jul 27, 2012, when application PCT/GB2012/051824, the earliest non-provisional in its chain, was filed (this one was filed Dec 27, 2016)	Jul 27, 2032	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 3 maintenance fees paid	In force	High confidence
Computed term end	The steps above, in order	no later than Jul 27, 2032	Medium confidence

This family

US 9,638,573	In force Feb 2033	Feb 2033
US 9,903,785	this patent no later than Jul 2032	no later than Jul 2032

2 of 3 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
Oct 3, 2024 Reel 68784, frame 324	Ffei Limited	Ventana Medical Systems, 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

Jul 2032

Term ends no later than Jul 27, 2032. Maintenance fees still fall due before then

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 Jul 27, 2032. We will not guess the cap.

Citations

later US patent cites this one

That is below the median of utility patents granted in 2018 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.

In force means the term is running and no lapse is on record. It is not a finding that the patent is valid.

Method and Apparatus for Image Scanning