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US

Surgical Instrument Having Recording Capabilities

US 8,172,124 Term ended
OverviewFamilyAssignmentsSources & methods

Term ended Jan 31, 2026 · High confidence

Filed Feb 4, 2011 as application 13/021,105 · Granted May 8, 2012
Base term, 20 years from filing
Today
20 years from filing
Term ended Jan 31, 2026
2006 2026
Clock starts
Jan 31, 2006
Term ended
Jan 31, 2026
Granted
May 8, 2012
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.
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.
97
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. 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.
StepInputDate after this stepConfidence
Base term, 20 years from filingClock starts Jan 31, 2006, when application 11/343,803, the earliest non-provisional in its chain, was filed (this one was filed Feb 4, 2011)Jan 31, 2026High confidence
Continuity chainEvery parent in the chain resolvedno changeHigh confidence
Patent term adjustmentNone on fileno changeHigh confidence
Terminal disclaimer capNone on recordno cap appliedHigh confidence
Patent term extensionNone on fileno changeHigh confidence
Fee events3 of 3 maintenance fees paidterm endedHigh confidence
Computed term endThe steps above, in orderJan 31, 2026High confidence

This family

US 7,845,537In force
Oct 2029
Oct 2029
US 8,161,977In force
Apr 2027
Apr 2027
Application 12/693,460Abandoned
not computed
not computed
Application 12/846,228Abandoned
not computed
not computed
US 8,167,185Term ended
Jan 2026
Jan 2026
US 8,157,153Term ended
Jan 2026
Jan 2026
US 8,172,124this patent
Jan 2026
Jan 2026
US 8,763,879Lapsed on the fee record
Jul 2026
Jul 2026
8 of 97 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.
RecordedAssignorAssigneeConveyance
Feb 23, 2011
Reel 25851, frame 374
Shelton, Frederick E., IV; Ouwerkerk, John N.; Timperman, Eugene L.Ethicon Endo-Surgery, Inc.Assignment of Assignor's Interest
Nov 28, 2015
Reel 37161, frame 710
Ethicon Endo-Surgery, Inc.Ethicon Endo-Surgery, LLCAssignment of Assignor's Interest
Feb 27, 2017
Reel 41821, frame 186
Ethicon Endo-Surgery, LLCEthicon LLCChange of Name
Apr 27, 2021
Reel 56601, frame 339
Ethicon LLCCilag GmbH InternationalAssignment 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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