Term ends May 2, 2028 · High confidence
20-year base term ends Apr 8, 2028
Held by Tesla, Inc.
Filed Oct 6, 2009 as application 12/594,935 · Granted Feb 7, 2012
Base term plus 24 days of patent term adjustment (USPTO delay)
Today
2008
2028
Clock starts
Apr 8, 2008
Apr 8, 2008
Term ends
May 2, 2028
May 2, 2028
Granted
Feb 7, 2012
Feb 7, 2012
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
24
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.
35
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 24 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 Apr 8, 2008, when application PCT/US2008/004569, the earliest non-provisional in its chain, was filed (this one was filed Oct 6, 2009) | Apr 8, 2028 | High confidence |
| Continuity chain | Every parent in the chain resolved | no change | High confidence |
| Patent term adjustment | +24 days, USPTO patent term adjustment record | May 2, 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 | 3 of 3 maintenance fees paid | In force | High confidence |
| Computed term end | The steps above, in order | May 2, 2028 | High confidence |
This family
| Application PCT/US2008/004569 | PCT application no patent term | no patent term |
| US 8,109,048 | this patent May 2028 | May 2028 |
| Application PCT/US2010/040986 | PCT application no patent term | no patent term |
| Application PCT/US2010/040981 | PCT application no patent term | no patent term |
| Application 13/325,054 | Abandoned not computed | not computed |
| Application 13/351,397 | Abandoned not computed | not computed |
| US 8,375,654 | In force Apr 2028 | Apr 2028 |
| US 9,863,665 | In force Oct 2033 | Oct 2033 |
8 of 35 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 26, 2010 Reel 24441, frame 352 | High Sun Technology, Inc. | Zep Solar, Inc. | Change of Name |
| Apr 9, 2014 Reel 32642, frame 575 | Zep Solar, Inc. | Zep Solar, LLC | Assignment of Assignor's Interest |
| Apr 23, 2015 Reel 35496, frame 341 | Zep Solar LLC | Solarcity Corporation | Assignment of Assignor's Interest |
| May 6, 2021 Reel 56172, frame 62 | Solarcity Corporation | Tesla, 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
May 2028
Term ends May 2, 2028. No further fees fall due before then
Note
The 24 days of patent term adjustment (USPTO delay) are read from the USPTO record, not recalculated by us
Citations
267
later US patents cite this one
That is top 5% of utility patents granted in 2012 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.