Term ended Dec 24, 2018 · Medium confidence
20-year base term ended Dec 24, 2018
Why Medium: A parent in the chain could not be resolved.
USPTO later recorded it as expired for non-payment on May 1, 2023.
Held by Cepheid
Filed Feb 12, 2009 as application 12/370,527 · Granted Mar 29, 2011
Base term, 20 years from filing
Today
Term ended Dec 24, 2018
1998
2026
Clock starts
Dec 24, 1998
Dec 24, 1998
Term ended
Dec 24, 2018
Dec 24, 2018
Granted
Mar 29, 2011
Mar 29, 2011
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.
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.
98
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. 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 Dec 24, 1998, when application PCT/US1998/027632, the earliest non-provisional in its chain, was filed (this one was filed Feb 12, 2009); a parent in its chain could not be resolved (the next row) | Dec 24, 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 | None on file | no change | 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 May 1, 2023, after the term ended | no change | High confidence |
| Computed term end | The steps above, in order | Dec 24, 2018 | Medium confidence |
This family
| US 7,376,431 | Term ended Jul 2025 | Jul 2025 |
| US 7,684,809 | Term ended Apr 2023 | Apr 2023 |
| US 7,914,994 | this patent Dec 2018 | Dec 2018 |
| Application 12/707,228 | Abandoned not computed | not computed |
| US 9,177,407 | In force Nov 2033 | Nov 2033 |
| US 8,534,546 | Lapsed on the fee record Sep 2025 | Sep 2025 |
| Application 12/903,753 | Abandoned not computed | not computed |
| US 8,584,956 | Lapsed on the fee record Nov 2021 | Nov 2021 |
8 of 98 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 8, 2009 Reel 22661, frame 66 | Pourahmadi, Farzad; McMillan, William A.; Ching, Jesus; Chang, Ronald; Christel, Lee A.; Kovacs, Gregory T.a.; Northrup, M. Allen; Petersen, Kurt E. | Cepheid | 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.
Citations
154
later US patents cite this one
That is top 5% of utility patents granted in 2011 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.