Term ended May 11, 2021 · Medium confidence
20-year base term ended Sep 25, 2021
Why Medium: The disclaimer's references carry disclaimers of their own not yet read (US 6,824,572), so the cap could be lower.
Held by Cargill, Incorporated
Filed Sep 25, 2001 as application 09/963,104 · Granted Oct 31, 2006
Base term plus 149 days of patent term adjustment (USPTO delay) · capped by a resolved terminal disclaimer
Today
Term ended May 11, 2021
2001
2026
Clock starts
Sep 25, 2001
Sep 25, 2001
Term ended
May 11, 2021
May 11, 2021
Granted
Oct 31, 2006
Oct 31, 2006
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
149
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 6,503,285, US 6,770,104, US 6,797,020, US 6,824,572.
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.
28
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 149 days past its 20-year base term on prosecution delay. A terminal disclaimer resolved from the filed document caps it earlier. All three maintenance fees were paid, so no fee lapse ended it. 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 25, 2001, when this application, 09/963,104, was filed | Sep 25, 2021 | High confidence |
| Continuity chain | Every parent in the chain resolved | no change | High confidence |
| Patent term adjustment | +149 days, USPTO patent term adjustment record | Feb 21, 2022 | High confidence |
| Terminal disclaimer cap | Disclaimer resolved from the filed document (refs US 6,503,285, US 6,770,104, US 6,797,020, US 6,824,572) | capped to May 11, 2021 | Medium 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 11, 2021 | Medium confidence |
This family
| US 6,503,285 | Term ended May 2021 | May 2021 |
| US 6,645,261 | Term ended Mar 2020 | Mar 2020 |
| US 7,128,766 | this patent May 2021 | May 2021 |
| US 6,770,104 | Term ended May 2021 | May 2021 |
| US 7,217,301 | Term ended Jul 2021 | Jul 2021 |
| Application PCT/US2004/000841 | PCT application no patent term | no patent term |
| US 7,462,205 | Term ended Dec 2022 | Dec 2022 |
| Application PCT/US2006/000822 | PCT application no patent term | no patent term |
8 of 28 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 29, 2002 Reel 12571, frame 821 | Murphy, Timothy A.; Wainwright, Robert E. | Cargill, Inc. | Assignment of Assignor's Interest |
| Dec 28, 2007 Reel 20299, frame 187 | Cargill Incorporated | Renewable Chemicals Corporation | Assignment of Assignor's Interest |
| Feb 20, 2008 Reel 20532, frame 380 | Renewable Chemicals Corporation | Cargill, Incorporated | License |
| May 6, 2008 Reel 20897, frame 722 | Renewable Chemicals Corporation | Elevance Renewable Sciences, Inc. | Change of Name |
| Jun 22, 2016 Reel 38984, frame 13 | Elevance Renewable Sciences, Inc. | Cargill, Incorporated | Assignment of Assignor's Interest |
| Aug 5, 2016 Reel 39354, frame 762 | Elevance Renewable Sciences, Inc. | Cargill, Incorporated | 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
The 149 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 6,503,285, US 6,770,104, US 6,797,020, US 6,824,572.
Citations
50
later US patents cite this one
That is top 25% of utility patents granted in 2006 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.