Lapsed Dec 16, 2020 on the fee record · High confidence
20-year base term ended Feb 7, 2023
Third maintenance fee unpaid; grace period ended.
Held by Volkswagen AG and Audi AG
Filed Feb 7, 2003 as application 10/360,889 · Granted Dec 16, 2008
Base term, 20 years from filing, plus 972 days of patent term adjustment (USPTO delay)
Today
Lapsed Dec 16, 2020
2003
2026
Clock starts
Feb 7, 2003
Feb 7, 2003
No longer in force
Dec 16, 2020
Dec 16, 2020
Granted
Dec 16, 2008
Dec 16, 2008
Term would have run to
Oct 6, 2025
Oct 6, 2025
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
972
Days of term adjustment
Read from the USPTO patent term adjustment record, not recalculated here.
None
Terminal disclaimer
No disclaimer on this record.
2 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.
23
Family applications on record here
Applications sharing this one's continuity chain whose file history this site holds. The family may have others.
Its term would have run to Oct 6, 2025: its 20-year base term plus 972 days of term adjustment for prosecution delay. 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 Feb 7, 2003, when this application, 10/360,889, was filed | Feb 7, 2023 | High confidence |
| Continuity chain | Every parent in the chain resolved | no change | High confidence |
| Patent term adjustment | +972 days, USPTO patent term adjustment record | Oct 6, 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 | 2 of 3 maintenance fees paid | lapsed Dec 16, 2020 | High confidence |
| Computed term end | The steps above, in order | Dec 16, 2020 | High confidence |
This family
| US 7,467,084 | this patent Dec 2020 | Dec 2020 |
| Application 10/414,361 | Abandoned not computed | not computed |
| US 7,912,228 | Term ended Oct 2025 | Oct 2025 |
| US 7,725,539 | In force Jan 2027 | Jan 2027 |
| US 8,094,127 | In force Jul 2027 | Jul 2027 |
| US 8,848,938 | Lapsed on the fee record Sep 2026 | Sep 2026 |
| US 9,200,908 | In force Oct 2028 | Oct 2028 |
| US 9,108,513 | In force Mar 2031 | Mar 2031 |
8 of 23 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 11, 2003 reel/frame not recorded | Steenhagen, Shawn K.; Finn, Brian Michael | Volkswagen AG | Assignment of Assignor's Interest |
| Jun 11, 2003 reel/frame not recorded | Steenhagen, Shawn K.; Finn, Brian Michael | Audi AG | Assignment of Assignor's Interest |
| Jun 11, 2003 Reel 14156, frame 951 | Finn, Brian Michael; Steenhagen, Shawn K. | Volkswagen AG; Audi AG | 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.
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Alerts on its grants, lapses and transfers.
What's changing
Note
The 972 days of patent term adjustment (USPTO delay) are read from the USPTO record, not recalculated by us
Citations
0
later US patents cite this one
That is below the median 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.