Term ended Jul 15, 2025 · High confidence
20-year base term ended Jan 31, 2023
Held by Block, Inc.
Filed Jan 31, 2003 as application 10/355,557 · Granted May 20, 2008
Base term plus 896 days of patent term adjustment (USPTO delay)
Today
Term ended Jul 15, 2025
2003
2026
Clock starts
Jan 31, 2003
Jan 31, 2003
Term ended
Jul 15, 2025
Jul 15, 2025
Granted
May 20, 2008
May 20, 2008
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
896
Days of term adjustment
Read from the USPTO patent term adjustment record, not recalculated here.
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.
98
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 896 days past its 20-year base term on 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 Jan 31, 2003, when this application, 10/355,557, was filed | Jan 31, 2023 | High confidence |
| Continuity chain | Every parent in the chain resolved | no change | High confidence |
| Patent term adjustment | +896 days, USPTO patent term adjustment record | Jul 15, 2025 | 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 | Jul 15, 2025 | High confidence |
This family
| US 7,376,431 | this patent Jul 2025 | Jul 2025 |
| US 7,684,809 | Term ended Apr 2023 | Apr 2023 |
| US 7,914,994 | Term ended Dec 2018 | Dec 2018 |
| Application 12/707,228 | Abandoned not computed | not computed |
| US 9,177,407 | In force Nov 2033 | Nov 2033 |
| US 8,534,546 | Lapsed on the fee record Sep 2025 | Sep 2025 |
| Application 12/903,753 | Abandoned not computed | not computed |
| US 8,584,956 | Lapsed on the fee record Nov 2021 | Nov 2021 |
8 of 98 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 4, 2011 Reel 25580, frame 721 | Niedermeyer, Brian J. | Square, Inc. | Assignment of Assignor's Interest |
| Nov 5, 2015 Reel 37055, frame 715 | Square, Inc. | JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., as Administrative Agent | Patent Security Agreement |
| Aug 11, 2017 Reel 43532, frame 662 | JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., as Administrative Agent | Square, Inc. | Release of Security Interest |
| Jan 18, 2022 Reel 58753, frame 503 | Square, Inc. | Block, Inc. | Change of Name |
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 896 days of patent term adjustment (USPTO delay) are read from the USPTO record, not recalculated by us
Citations
309
later US patents cite this one
That is top 5% of utility patents granted in 2008 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.