Lapsed Dec 29, 2021 on the fee record · High confidence
20-year base term ended May 16, 2026
Third maintenance fee unpaid; grace period ended.
Held by Sony Corporation and Sony Electronics Inc.
Filed Jul 12, 2006 as application 11/457,095 · Granted Dec 29, 2009
Base term, 20 years from filing, plus 661 days of patent term adjustment (USPTO delay)
Today
Lapsed Dec 29, 2021
2006
2028
Clock starts
May 16, 2006
May 16, 2006
No longer in force
Dec 29, 2021
Dec 29, 2021
Granted
Dec 29, 2009
Dec 29, 2009
Term would have run to
Mar 7, 2028
Mar 7, 2028
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
661
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.
7
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 Mar 7, 2028: its 20-year base term plus 661 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 May 16, 2006, when application 11/436,142, the earliest non-provisional in its chain, was filed (this one was filed Jul 12, 2006) | May 16, 2026 | High confidence |
| Continuity chain | Every parent in the chain resolved | no change | High confidence |
| Patent term adjustment | +661 days, USPTO patent term adjustment record | Mar 7, 2028 | 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 29, 2021 | High confidence |
| Computed term end | The steps above, in order | Dec 29, 2021 | High confidence |
This family
| US 7,774,288 | In force Dec 2026 | Dec 2026 |
| US 7,844,557 | Lapsed on the fee record Nov 2022 | Nov 2022 |
| US 8,055,597 | Lapsed on the fee record Nov 2023 | Nov 2023 |
| US 7,640,220 | this patent Dec 2021 | Dec 2021 |
| US 7,761,394 | Lapsed on the fee record Jul 2022 | Jul 2022 |
| US 7,630,946 | Lapsed on the fee record Dec 2021 | Dec 2021 |
| US 7,664,718 | Lapsed on the fee record Feb 2022 | Feb 2022 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dec 6, 2006 reel/frame not recorded | Acharya, Chiranjit, MR. | Sony Corporation | Assignment of Assignor's Interest |
| Dec 6, 2006 reel/frame not recorded | Acharya, Chiranjit, MR. | Sony Electronics Inc. | Assignment of Assignor's Interest |
| Dec 6, 2006 Reel 18591, frame 694 | Acharya, Chiranjit, MR. | Sony Corporation; Sony Electronics 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
The 661 days of patent term adjustment (USPTO delay) are read from the USPTO record, not recalculated by us
Citations
3
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.