Term ended May 31, 2022 · High confidence
20-year base term ended May 31, 2022
Held by Siemens Mobility, Inc.
Filed Nov 26, 2003 as application 10/721,227 · Granted Nov 29, 2005
Base term, 20 years from filing
Today
Term ended May 31, 2022
2002
2026
Clock starts
May 31, 2002
May 31, 2002
Term ended
May 31, 2022
May 31, 2022
Granted
Nov 29, 2005
Nov 29, 2005
base term
after the term ends
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.
3 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.
36
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. All three maintenance fees were paid, so no fee lapse ended it. 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 May 31, 2002, when application 10/157,874, the earliest non-provisional in its chain, was filed (this one was filed Nov 26, 2003) | May 31, 2022 | 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 | None on record | no cap applied | High confidence |
| Patent term extension | None on file | no change | High confidence |
| Fee events | 3 of 3 maintenance fees paid | term ended | High confidence |
| Computed term end | The steps above, in order | May 31, 2022 | High confidence |
This family
| US 6,701,228 | Term ended May 2022 | May 2022 |
| US 6,853,888 | Term ended Apr 2023 | Apr 2023 |
| US 6,915,191 | Term ended Jul 2023 | Jul 2023 |
| US 7,283,897 | Term ended Jun 2023 | Jun 2023 |
| US 7,096,096 | Term ended Jul 2023 | Jul 2023 |
| US 6,903,658 | Term ended Dec 2023 | Dec 2023 |
| US 6,970,774 | this patent May 2022 | May 2022 |
| Application PCT/US2004/008648 | PCT application no patent term | no patent term |
8 of 36 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 26, 2004 Reel 15374, frame 342 | Kane, Mark Edward; Shockley, James Francis; Hickenlooper, Harrison Thomas | Quantum Engineering, Inc. | Assignment of Assignor's Interest |
| Mar 24, 2010 Reel 24128, frame 423 | Quantum Engineering, Inc. | Invensys Rail Corporation | Assignment of Assignor's Interest |
| Sep 16, 2013 Reel 31217, frame 423 | Invensys Rail Corporation | Siemens Rail Automation Corporation | Change of Name |
| Apr 15, 2014 Reel 32689, frame 75 | Siemens Rail Automation Corporation; Siemens Industry, Inc. | Siemens Industry, Inc. | Merger |
| Feb 28, 2019 Reel 49841, frame 758 | Siemens Industry, Inc. | Siemens Mobility, 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.
Citations
21
later US patents cite this one
That is above the median of utility patents granted in 2005 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.