Term ends Nov 16, 2026 · High confidence
20-year base term ended Jun 27, 2022
Filed Nov 16, 2005 as application 11/280,095 · Granted Aug 23, 2011
Base term plus 1603 days of patent term adjustment (USPTO delay)
Today
2002
2026
Clock starts
Jun 27, 2002
Jun 27, 2002
Term ends
Nov 16, 2026
Nov 16, 2026
Granted
Aug 23, 2011
Aug 23, 2011
base term
patent term adjustment
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
1,603
Days of term adjustment
Read from the USPTO patent term adjustment record, not recalculated here.
None
Terminal disclaimer
No disclaimer on this record.
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.
3
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 1603 days past its 20-year base term on prosecution delay. All three maintenance fees are recorded paid; no more fees are due. 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 Jun 27, 2002, when application 10/186,298, the earliest non-provisional in its chain, was filed (this one was filed Nov 16, 2005) | Jun 27, 2022 | High confidence |
| Continuity chain | Every parent in the chain resolved | no change | High confidence |
| Patent term adjustment | +1603 days, USPTO patent term adjustment record | Nov 16, 2026 | 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 | 3 of 3 maintenance fees paid | In force | High confidence |
| Computed term end | The steps above, in order | Nov 16, 2026 | High confidence |
This family
| US 6,996,173 | Term ended Apr 2024 | Apr 2024 |
| US 7,830,958 | Surrendered on reissue no later than Sep 2013 | no later than Sep 2013 |
| US 8,005,138 | this patent Nov 2026 | Nov 2026 |
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, 2011 Reel 26608, frame 139 | Wu, Feng; Li, Shipeng; Sun, Xiaoyan; Zhang, Ya-qin | Microsoft Corporation | Assignment of Assignor's Interest |
| Dec 9, 2014 Reel 34543, frame 1 | Microsoft Corporation | Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC | 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
Nov 2026
Term ends Nov 16, 2026. No further fees fall due before then
Note
The 1603 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 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.
In force means the term is running and no lapse is on record. It is not a finding that the patent is valid.