Term ends Feb 8, 2028 · Medium confidence
20-year base term ended Sep 29, 2026
Why Medium: A parent in the chain could not be resolved.
Held by Cilag GmbH International
Filed Dec 8, 2014 as application 14/562,970 · Granted Jan 8, 2019
Base term plus 497 days of patent term adjustment (USPTO delay)
Today
2006
2028
Clock starts
Sep 29, 2006
Sep 29, 2006
Term ends
Feb 8, 2028
Feb 8, 2028
Granted
Jan 8, 2019
Jan 8, 2019
base term
patent term adjustment
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
497
Days of term adjustment
Read from the USPTO patent term adjustment record, not recalculated here.
None
Terminal disclaimer
No disclaimer on this record.
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.
86
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 runs 497 days past its 20-year base term on prosecution delay. 1 of 2 maintenance fees is 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 Sep 29, 2006, when application 11/541,374, the earliest non-provisional in its chain, was filed (this one was filed Dec 8, 2014); a parent in its chain could not be resolved (the next row) | Sep 29, 2026 | 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 | +497 days, USPTO patent term adjustment record | Feb 8, 2028 | 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 | 1 of 2 maintenance fees paid | In force | High confidence |
| Computed term end | The steps above, in order | Feb 8, 2028 | Medium confidence |
This family
| US 7,669,746 | Term ended no later than Aug 2025 | no later than Aug 2025 |
| US 8,365,976 | In force Aug 2029 | Aug 2029 |
| Application 11/714,049 | Abandoned not computed | not computed |
| Application 11/711,975 | Abandoned not computed | not computed |
| US 7,500,979 | Term ended Sep 2025 | Sep 2025 |
| US 7,673,781 | Term ended Aug 2025 | Aug 2025 |
| US 8,317,070 | In force Sep 2028 | Sep 2028 |
| US 7,669,747 | In force Jun 2027 | Jun 2027 |
8 of 86 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 24, 2015 Reel 35013, frame 346 | Murray, Michael A.; Morgan, Jerome R.; Hess, Christopher J.; Weisenburgh, William B., II; Zwolinski, Andrew M. | Ethicon Endo-Surgery, Inc. | Assignment of Assignor's Interest |
| Nov 29, 2015 Reel 37161, frame 918 | Ethicon Endo-Surgery, Inc. | Ethicon Endo-Surgery, LLC | Assignment of Assignor's Interest |
| Feb 28, 2017 Reel 41825, frame 651 | Ethicon Endo-Surgery, LLC | Ethicon LLC | Change of Name |
| Apr 27, 2021 Reel 56601, frame 339 | Ethicon LLC | Cilag GmbH International | 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
Feb 2028
Term ends Feb 8, 2028.
Note
The 497 days of patent term adjustment (USPTO delay) are read from the USPTO record, not recalculated by us
Citations
1,452
later US patents cite this one
That is top 1% of utility patents granted in 2019 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.