Term ends Feb 11, 2029 · High confidence
20-year base term ends Feb 11, 2029
Held by IBM United Kigndom Limited
Filed Jul 8, 2011 as application 13/178,839 · Granted Jul 24, 2012
Base term, 20 years from filing
Today
2009
2029
Clock starts
Feb 11, 2009
Feb 11, 2009
Term ends
Feb 11, 2029
Feb 11, 2029
Granted
Jul 24, 2012
Jul 24, 2012
base term
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 7,996,629, to Feb 11, 2029. The term already ends on or before that date, so the cap shortened nothing.
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.
2
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. A terminal disclaimer is resolved from the filed document, and it ends no earlier than this term, so it shortens nothing. 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 Feb 11, 2009, when application 12/369,484, the earliest non-provisional in its chain, was filed (this one was filed Jul 8, 2011) | Feb 11, 2029 | 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 7,996,629) | resolves to Feb 11, 2029, no earlier than this term, so no change | 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 | Feb 11, 2029 | High confidence |
This family
| US 7,996,629 | In force Feb 2030 | Feb 2030 |
| US 8,230,181 | this patent Feb 2029 | Feb 2029 |
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 8, 2011 Reel 26562, frame 820 | Wan, Kit Man; Dankel, Gisle | Transitive Limited | Assignment of Assignor's Interest |
| Jul 8, 2011 Reel 26565, frame 566 | IBM United Kingdom Limited | IBM Corporation | Assignment of Assignor's Interest |
| Jul 8, 2011 Reel 26739, frame 74 | Transitive Limited | IBM United Kigndom Limited | 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.
What's changing
Feb 2029
Term ends Feb 11, 2029. No further fees fall due before then
Terminal disclaimer
A terminal disclaimer resolved from the filed document, referencing US 7,996,629, ends no earlier than this term, so it caps nothing.
Citations
11
later US patents cite this one
That is above the median 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.