Term ends Mar 14, 2032 · High confidence
20-year base term ends Mar 14, 2032
Held by Abec, Inc.
Filed Dec 24, 2018 as application 16/231,663 · Granted Mar 1, 2022
Base term plus 117 days of patent term adjustment (USPTO delay) · capped by a resolved terminal disclaimer
Today
2012
2032
Clock starts
Mar 14, 2012
Mar 14, 2012
Term ends
Mar 14, 2032
Mar 14, 2032
Granted
Mar 1, 2022
Mar 1, 2022
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
117
Days of term adjustment
Read from the USPTO patent term adjustment record, not recalculated here.
Capped
Terminal disclaimer
Resolved from the filed document, referencing US 9,228,165.
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.
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 runs 117 days past its 20-year base term on prosecution delay. A terminal disclaimer resolved from the filed document caps it earlier. 1 of 2 maintenance fees is paid so far. Confidence: High. 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 Mar 14, 2012, when application 13/420,338, the earliest non-provisional in its chain, was filed (this one was filed Dec 24, 2018) | Mar 14, 2032 | High confidence |
| Continuity chain | Every parent in the chain resolved | no change | High confidence |
| Patent term adjustment | +117 days, USPTO patent term adjustment record | Jul 9, 2032 | High confidence |
| Terminal disclaimer cap | Disclaimer resolved from the filed document (refs US 9,228,165) | capped to Mar 14, 2032 | 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 | Mar 14, 2032 | High confidence |
This family
| US 9,228,165 | In force Mar 2032 | Mar 2032 |
| Application 14/969,937 | Abandoned not computed | not computed |
| Application 15/252,273 | Abandoned not computed | not computed |
| US 11,261,415 | this patent Mar 2032 | Mar 2032 |
| US 12,157,874 | In force Mar 2032 | Mar 2032 |
| Application 18/923,962 | Pending not computed | not computed |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 13, 2021 Reel 54901, frame 301 | Knight, Cameron; Jones, Todd; Cole, Brady; Kubera, Paul; Donovan, Cindy L | Abec, 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
Mar 2032
Term ends Mar 14, 2032. Maintenance fees still fall due before then
Note
The 117 days of patent term adjustment (USPTO delay) are read from the USPTO record, not recalculated by us
Disclaimer cap
This term is capped by a terminal disclaimer resolved from the filed document, referencing US 9,228,165.
Citations
1
later US patent cites this one
That is below the median of utility patents granted in 2022 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.