Term ended Feb 9, 2020 · Medium confidence
20-year base term ended Jun 1, 2018
Why Medium: A parent in the chain could not be resolved.
USPTO later recorded it as expired for non-payment on Mar 29, 2021.
Held by Apple Inc.
Filed Nov 29, 2001 as application 09/997,733 · Granted Feb 24, 2009
Base term plus 618 days of patent term adjustment (USPTO delay)
Today
Term ended Feb 9, 2020
1998
2026
Clock starts
Jun 1, 1998
Jun 1, 1998
Term ended
Feb 9, 2020
Feb 9, 2020
Granted
Feb 24, 2009
Feb 24, 2009
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
618
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 2
Maintenance fees paid
Two maintenance fees can end this term early, the ones due 3.5 and 7.5 years from grant; the third one's grace period runs past the term end. 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 618 days past its 20-year base term on prosecution delay. 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 Jun 1, 1998, when application 09/088,413, the earliest non-provisional in its chain, was filed (this one was filed Nov 29, 2001); a parent in its chain could not be resolved (the next row) | Jun 1, 2018 | 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 | +618 days, USPTO patent term adjustment record | Feb 9, 2020 | 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 2 maintenance fees paid | term ended | High confidence |
| USPTO status record | Recorded as expired for non-payment on Mar 29, 2021, after the term ended | no change | High confidence |
| Computed term end | The steps above, in order | Feb 9, 2020 | Medium 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 | this patent Feb 2020 | Feb 2020 |
| US 7,551,663 | Term ended Aug 2023 | Aug 2023 |
| US 7,221,664 | Term ended 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 25, 2002 Reel 12649, frame 84 | 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.
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Alerts on its grants, lapses and transfers.
What's changing
Note
The 618 days of patent term adjustment (USPTO delay) are read from the USPTO record, not recalculated by us
Citations
5
later US patents cite this one
That is below the median of utility patents granted in 2009 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.