Lapsed Mar 20, 2024 on the fee record · High confidence
20-year base term ends Jun 28, 2027
Third maintenance fee unpaid; grace period ended.
No current holder resolved from the recorded chain.
Filed Dec 28, 2010 as application 12/980,277 · Granted Mar 20, 2012
Base term, 20 years from filing
Today
Lapsed Mar 20, 2024
2007
2027
Clock starts
Jun 28, 2007
Jun 28, 2007
No longer in force
Mar 20, 2024
Mar 20, 2024
Granted
Mar 20, 2012
Mar 20, 2012
Term would have run to
Jun 28, 2027
Jun 28, 2027
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 8,041,438, to Jun 28, 2027. The term already ends on or before that date, so the cap shortened nothing.
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.
17
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 Jun 28, 2027: 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. 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 28, 2007, when application 11/824,160, the earliest non-provisional in its chain, was filed (this one was filed Dec 28, 2010) | Jun 28, 2027 | 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 8,041,438) | resolves to Jun 28, 2027, no earlier than this term, so no change | High confidence |
| Patent term extension | None on file | no change | High confidence |
| Fee events | 2 of 3 maintenance fees paid | lapsed Mar 20, 2024 | High confidence |
| Computed term end | The steps above, in order | Mar 20, 2024 | High confidence |
This family
| US 7,861,008 | In force Dec 2028 | Dec 2028 |
| US 8,041,438 | In force Jan 2030 | Jan 2030 |
| US 8,111,837 | Lapsed on the fee record Feb 2024 | Feb 2024 |
| US 8,171,177 | In force Apr 2028 | Apr 2028 |
| US 8,140,714 | this patent Mar 2024 | Mar 2024 |
| US 8,095,694 | In force Jun 2027 | Jun 2027 |
| US 8,694,141 | In force Mar 2028 | Mar 2028 |
| US 8,694,140 | In force Dec 2027 | Dec 2027 |
8 of 17 applications in this family shown, earliest filings first. The applications whose file history this site holds. The family may have others.
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.
Terminal disclaimer
A terminal disclaimer resolved from the filed document, referencing US 8,041,438, ends no earlier than this term, so it caps nothing.
Citations
33
later US patents cite this one
That is top 25% 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.