Lapsed Jun 5, 2026 on the fee record · Medium confidence
20-year base term ends Dec 5, 2026
Why Medium: A terminal disclaimer is on file (approved) with no resolved reference, so the term may end earlier.
Second maintenance fee unpaid; grace period ended.
Held by Smith & Nephew, Inc.
Filed Nov 28, 2014 as application 14/555,754 · Granted Jun 5, 2018
Base term, 20 years from filing, plus 383 days of patent term adjustment (USPTO delay)
Today
Lapsed Jun 5, 2026
2006
2027
Clock starts
Dec 5, 2006
Dec 5, 2006
No longer in force
Jun 5, 2026
Jun 5, 2026
Granted
Jun 5, 2018
Jun 5, 2018
Term would have run to
Dec 23, 2027
Dec 23, 2027
base term
patent term adjustment
after the term ends
fee events
Updated Nov 15, 2026 · includes USPTO assignment & status data published Nov 15, 2026 and grant & fee data published Nov 10, 2026 (weekly) · how we know
383
Days of term adjustment
Read from the USPTO patent term adjustment record, not recalculated here.
Unresolved
Terminal disclaimer
On file, reference document not resolved, so the date above is an upper bound. We do not guess the cap.
1 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.
5
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 Dec 23, 2027: its 20-year base term plus 383 days of term 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 Dec 5, 2006, when application 11/566,738, the earliest non-provisional in its chain, was filed (this one was filed Nov 28, 2014) | Dec 5, 2026 | High confidence |
| Continuity chain | Every parent in the chain resolved | no change | High confidence |
| Patent term adjustment | +383 days, USPTO patent term adjustment record | Dec 23, 2027 | 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 | 1 of 2 maintenance fees paid | lapsed Jun 5, 2026 | High confidence |
| Computed term end | The steps above, in order | Jun 5, 2026 | Medium confidence |
This family
| US 8,931,388 | In force Jan 2028 | Jan 2028 |
| Application PCT/US2007/085862 | PCT application no patent term | no patent term |
| US 8,925,437 | In force Dec 2026 | Dec 2026 |
| Application PCT/US2009/041870 | PCT application no patent term | no patent term |
| US 9,987,032 | this patent Jun 2026 | Jun 2026 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 2, 2018 Reel 45694, frame 125 | Jezierski, Rafal Z. | Smith & Nephew, 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
Note
A terminal disclaimer is on file and its reference is not resolved. No cap is applied and none is guessed
Note
The 383 days of patent term adjustment (USPTO delay) are read from the USPTO record, not recalculated by us
Open question
A terminal disclaimer is on file (approved) and its reference document is not resolved. A disclaimer would cap the term earlier than Jun 5, 2026. We will not guess the cap.
Citations
0
later US patents cite 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
Computed patent terms end on the dates shown. Related patents and pending applications may cover overlapping subject matter.