Term ended no later than Jul 11, 2020 · Low confidence
20-year base term ended Dec 17, 2017
Held by Apple Inc.
Filed Jun 12, 2002 as application 10/171,080 · Granted May 22, 2007
Base term plus 937 days of patent term adjustment (USPTO delay)
Today
Ended no later than Jul 11, 2020
1997
2026
Clock starts
Dec 17, 1997
Dec 17, 1997
Ended no later than
Jul 11, 2020
Jul 11, 2020
Granted
May 22, 2007
May 22, 2007
base term
patent term adjustment
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
937
Days of term adjustment
Read from the USPTO patent term adjustment record, not recalculated here.
Unresolved
Terminal disclaimer
On file, reference document not resolved, so the date above is an upper bound. We do not guess the cap.
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.
54
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 937 days past its 20-year base term on prosecution delay. A terminal disclaimer is on file with no resolved reference, so no cap is applied and none is guessed. All three maintenance fees were paid, so no fee lapse ended it. Confidence: Low. 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 Dec 17, 1997, when applications 08/992,759 and 08/992,760, the earliest non-provisional applications in its chain, were filed (this one was filed Jun 12, 2002); a parent in its chain could not be resolved (the next row) | Dec 17, 2017 | 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 | +937 days, USPTO patent term adjustment record | Jul 11, 2020 | High confidence |
| Terminal disclaimer cap | Disclaimer on file (approved), reference document not resolved | no cap applied, and none guessed | 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 | no later than Jul 11, 2020 | Low confidence |
This family
| US 6,542,481 | Term ended Aug 2018 | Aug 2018 |
| US 7,079,523 | Lapsed on the fee record Jul 2018 | Jul 2018 |
| US 8,175,120 | In force May 2027 | May 2027 |
| US 6,678,260 | Term ended Jul 2018 | Jul 2018 |
| US 7,936,728 | Term ended Mar 2021 | Mar 2021 |
| US 7,496,072 | Term ended Feb 2020 | Feb 2020 |
| US 7,551,663 | Term ended Aug 2023 | Aug 2023 |
| US 7,221,664 | this patent no later than Jul 2020 | no later than Jul 2020 |
8 of 54 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 13, 2003 Reel 13658, frame 384 | Proctor, James A. Jr. | Tantivy Communications, Inc. | Assignment of Assignor's Interest |
| Jul 24, 2003 Reel 14289, frame 207 | Tantivy Communications, Inc. | Ipr Holdings Delaware, Inc. | Security Interest |
| Feb 19, 2004 Reel 14351, frame 777 | InterDigital Acquisition Corporation | InterDigital Patent Corporation | Assignment of Assignor's Interest |
| Feb 26, 2004 Reel 15000, frame 141 | Tantivy Communications, Inc. | InterDigital Acquisition Corp. | Assignment of Assignor's Interest |
| Feb 26, 2004 Reel 15000, frame 577 | InterDigital Acquisition Corp. | InterDigital Patent Corporation | Merger |
| Feb 26, 2004 Reel 15017, frame 577 | InterDigital Patent Corporation | Tantivy Communications, Inc. | Assignment of Assignor's Interest |
| Feb 23, 2011 Reel 25852, frame 304 | Tantivy Communications, Inc. | Ipr Licensing, Inc. | Merger |
| Jan 2, 2013 Reel 29555, frame 660 | Ipr Licensing, Inc. | Intel Corporation | Assignment of Assignor's Interest |
| Jun 25, 2020 Reel 53066, frame 210 | Intel Corporation | Apple 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
Note
A terminal disclaimer is on file and its reference is not resolved. No cap is applied and none is guessed
Note
The 937 days of patent term adjustment (USPTO delay) are read from the USPTO record, not recalculated by us
Open question
A terminal disclaimer is on file (approved) and its reference document is not resolved. A disclaimer would cap the term earlier than Jul 11, 2020. We will not guess the cap.
Citations
34
later US patents cite this one
That is top 25% of utility patents granted in 2007 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
This computed term ends no later than the date shown; an unresolved terminal disclaimer may end it earlier. Related patents and pending applications may cover overlapping subject matter.