Term ends no later than Dec 11, 2026 · Medium confidence
20-year base term ended Jul 31, 2026
In force on USPTO's status record and by its fee record. A terminal disclaimer on file may shorten this term, possibly to a date already past; its reference document is unresolved, so the date above is an upper bound and no earlier date is guessed.
Held by Google LLC
Filed Sep 20, 2006 as application 11/524,730 · Granted Dec 30, 2008
Base term plus 133 days of patent term adjustment (USPTO delay)
Today
2006
2026
Clock starts
Jul 31, 2006
Jul 31, 2006
Ends no later than
Dec 11, 2026
Dec 11, 2026
Granted
Dec 30, 2008
Dec 30, 2008
base term
patent term adjustment
fee events
Updated Nov 15, 2026 · includes USPTO assignment & status data published Nov 15, 2026 and grant & fee data published Nov 10, 2026 (weekly) · how we know
133
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.
115
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 133 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 are recorded paid; no more fees are due. 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 Jul 31, 2006, when application 11/461,439, the earliest non-provisional in its chain, was filed (this one was filed Sep 20, 2006) | Jul 31, 2026 | High confidence |
| Continuity chain | Every parent in the chain resolved | no change | High confidence |
| Patent term adjustment | +133 days, USPTO patent term adjustment record | Dec 11, 2026 | 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 | In force | High confidence |
| Computed term end | The steps above, in order | no later than Dec 11, 2026 | Medium confidence |
This family
| US 7,039,684 | Term ended Sep 2022 | Sep 2022 |
| US 6,941,293 | Term ended Mar 2023 | Mar 2023 |
| Application 10/232,602 | Abandoned not computed | not computed |
| Application 10/232,324 | Abandoned not computed | not computed |
| Application 10/775,195 | Abandoned not computed | not computed |
| US 7,313,359 | Lapsed on the fee record Dec 2019 | Dec 2019 |
| US 7,711,313 | Lapsed on the fee record May 2018 | May 2018 |
| Application 11/135,859 | Abandoned not computed | not computed |
8 of 115 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 20, 2006 Reel 18331, frame 515 | Rajan, Suresh Natarajan; Schakel, Keith R.; Smith, Michel John Sebastian; Wang, David T.; Weber, Frederick Daniel | Metaram, Inc. | Assignment of Assignor's Interest |
| Jan 4, 2010 Reel 23720, frame 885 | Metaram, Inc. | Netlist, Inc. | License |
| Jun 7, 2010 Reel 24496, frame 849 | Metaram, Inc. | Google Inc. | Assignment of Assignor's Interest |
| Oct 2, 2017 Reel 44101, frame 610 | Google Inc. | Google LLC | 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
Dec 2026
Term ends no later than Dec 11, 2026. No further fees fall due before then
Note
A terminal disclaimer is on file and its reference is not resolved. No cap is applied and none is guessed
Note
The 133 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 Dec 11, 2026. We will not guess the cap.
Citations
221
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
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.
In force means the term is running and no lapse is on record. It is not a finding that the patent is valid.