Term ends Apr 20, 2029 · Medium confidence
20-year base term ends Apr 20, 2029
Why Medium: A parent in the chain could not be resolved.
Held by Sigma Designs, Inc.
Filed Aug 20, 2018 as application 15/998,980 · Granted Nov 17, 2020
Base term, 20 years from filing
Today
2009
2029
Clock starts
Apr 20, 2009
Apr 20, 2009
Term ends
Apr 20, 2029
Apr 20, 2029
Granted
Nov 17, 2020
Nov 17, 2020
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.
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.
4
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. 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 Apr 20, 2009, when application 12/426,897, the earliest non-provisional in its chain, was filed (this one was filed Aug 20, 2018); a parent in its chain could not be resolved (the next row) | Apr 20, 2029 | 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 | 1 of 2 maintenance fees paid | In force | High confidence |
| Computed term end | The steps above, in order | Apr 20, 2029 | Medium confidence |
This family
| US 9,398,136 | In force Jul 2030 | Jul 2030 |
| Application PCT/US2010/031304 | PCT application no patent term | no patent term |
| US 10,057,928 | In force Sep 2029 | Sep 2029 |
| US 10,841,962 | this patent Apr 2029 | Apr 2029 |
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 21, 2020 Reel 51887, frame 769 | Siann, Jonathan; Karsi, Murat | Sigma Designs, 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.
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Alerts on its grants, lapses and transfers.
What's changing
Apr 2029
Term ends Apr 20, 2029. Maintenance fees still fall due before then
Citations
0
later US patents cite this one
That is below the median of utility patents granted in 2020 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.