Term ended Jan 30, 2026 · High confidence
20-year base term ended Jan 30, 2026
Held by ByteDance Inc.
Filed Jul 18, 2008 as application 12/161,554 · Granted Dec 21, 2010
Base term, 20 years from filing
Today
Term ended Jan 30, 2026
2006
2026
Clock starts
Jan 30, 2006
Jan 30, 2006
Term ended
Jan 30, 2026
Jan 30, 2026
Granted
Dec 21, 2010
Dec 21, 2010
base term
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
None
Term adjustment
No prosecution delay on this record.
No effect
Terminal disclaimer
Resolved from the filed document, referencing US 7,788,188, to Jan 30, 2026. The term already ends on or before that date, so the cap shortened nothing.
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.
18
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 is its 20-year base term, with no adjustment for prosecution delay. A terminal disclaimer is resolved from the filed document, and it ends no earlier than this term, so it shortens nothing. 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 30, 2006, when application 11/307,262, the earliest non-provisional in its chain, was filed (this one was filed Jul 18, 2008) | Jan 30, 2026 | High confidence |
| Continuity chain | Every parent in the chain resolved | no change | High confidence |
| Patent term adjustment | None on file | no change | High confidence |
| Terminal disclaimer cap | Disclaimer resolved from the filed document (refs US 7,788,188) | resolves to Jan 30, 2026, no earlier than this term, so no change | 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 | Jan 30, 2026 | High confidence |
This family
| US 7,788,188 | Term ended Jan 2026 | Jan 2026 |
| Application PCT/US2007/061328 | PCT application no patent term | no patent term |
| US 7,856,360 | this patent Jan 2026 | Jan 2026 |
| US 8,103,519 | In force Jan 2027 | Jan 2027 |
| Application 12/973,947 | Abandoned not computed | not computed |
| US 8,583,447 | Term ended Jan 2026 | Jan 2026 |
| US 9,105,039 | Term ended Mar 2026 | Mar 2026 |
| US 10,776,826 | In force Mar 2028 | Mar 2028 |
8 of 18 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 18, 2008 Reel 21264, frame 675 | Ning, James F.; Ning, Paul C. | Hoozware, Inc. | Assignment of Assignor's Interest |
| Jul 8, 2010 Reel 24665, frame 527 | Kramer, James F.; Ning, Paul C. | Hoozware, Inc. | Corrective Assignment to Correct the First Conveying Party/Assignor, Previously Recorded on Reel 021264 Frame 0675. Assignor(S) Hereby Confirms the Assignment. |
| Apr 26, 2013 Reel 30297, frame 361 | Hoozware, Inc. | Groupon, Inc. | Assignment of Assignor's Interest |
| Jul 23, 2020 Reel 53294, frame 495 | Groupon, Inc.; Livingsocial, LLC | Jpmorgan Chase Bank, N.a. | Security Interest |
| Feb 26, 2024 Reel 66676, frame 1 | Jpmorgan Chase Bank, N.a. | Groupon, Inc.; Livingsocial, LLC (F/K/A Livingsocial, Inc.) | Release of Security Interest |
| Feb 26, 2024 Reel 66676, frame 251 | Jpmorgan Chase Bank, N.a. | Groupon, Inc.; Livingsocial, LLC (F/K/A Livingsocial, Inc.) | Termination and Release of Security Interest in Intellectual Property Rights |
| Feb 26, 2024 reel/frame not recorded | Jpmorgan Chase Bank, N.a. | Groupon, Inc. | Release of Security Interest |
| Feb 26, 2024 reel/frame not recorded | Jpmorgan Chase Bank, N.a. | Livingsocial, LLC (F/K/A Livingsocial, Inc.) | Release of Security Interest |
| Feb 26, 2024 reel/frame not recorded | Jpmorgan Chase Bank, N.a. | Groupon, Inc. | Termination and Release of Security Interest in Intellectual Property Rights |
| Feb 26, 2024 reel/frame not recorded | Jpmorgan Chase Bank, N.a. | Livingsocial, LLC (F/K/A Livingsocial, Inc.) | Termination and Release of Security Interest in Intellectual Property Rights |
| Aug 12, 2024 Reel 68833, frame 811 | Groupon, Inc. | ByteDance 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.
Terminal disclaimer
A terminal disclaimer resolved from the filed document, referencing US 7,788,188, ends no earlier than this term, so it caps nothing.
Citations
1,369
later US patents cite this one
That is top 1% of utility patents granted in 2010 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.