Lapsed Oct 30, 2016 on the fee record · High confidence
20-year base term ends Jun 17, 2028
First maintenance fee unpaid; grace period ended.
Held by Sony Corporation and Sony Electronics, Inc.
Filed Jun 17, 2008 as application 12/213,240 · Granted Oct 30, 2012
Base term, 20 years from filing, plus 1170 days of patent term adjustment (USPTO delay)
Today
Lapsed Oct 30, 2016
2008
2031
Clock starts
Jun 17, 2008
Jun 17, 2008
No longer in force
Oct 30, 2016
Oct 30, 2016
Granted
Oct 30, 2012
Oct 30, 2012
Term would have run to
Aug 31, 2031
Aug 31, 2031
base term
patent term adjustment
after the term ends
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
1,170
Days of term adjustment
Read from the USPTO patent term adjustment record, not recalculated here.
None
Terminal disclaimer
No disclaimer on this record.
0 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.
13
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 Aug 31, 2031: its 20-year base term plus 1170 days of term adjustment for prosecution delay. 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 17, 2008, when this application, 12/213,240, was filed | Jun 17, 2028 | High confidence |
| Continuity chain | Every parent in the chain resolved | no change | High confidence |
| Patent term adjustment | +1170 days, USPTO patent term adjustment record | Aug 31, 2031 | 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 | 0 of 3 maintenance fees paid | lapsed Oct 30, 2016 | High confidence |
| Computed term end | The steps above, in order | Oct 30, 2016 | High confidence |
This family
| Application 09/942,255 | Abandoned not computed | not computed |
| US 7,290,698 | Term ended Dec 2025 | Dec 2025 |
| US 8,054,854 | In force Jun 2027 | Jun 2027 |
| US 7,692,635 | In force Jul 2028 | Jul 2028 |
| Application PCT/US2006/000876 | PCT application no patent term | no patent term |
| US 8,430,299 | Term ended Dec 2025 | Dec 2025 |
| US 8,269,718 | In force Aug 2027 | Aug 2027 |
| US 8,297,892 | this patent Oct 2016 | Oct 2016 |
8 of 13 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 17, 2008 reel/frame not recorded | Alvarez Serrano, Esteban A. | Sony Corporation | Assignment of Assignor's Interest |
| Jun 17, 2008 reel/frame not recorded | Alvarez Serrano, Esteban A. | Sony Electronics, Inc. | Assignment of Assignor's Interest |
| Jun 17, 2008 Reel 21183, frame 414 | Alvarez Serrano, Esteban A. | Sony Corporation; Sony Electronics, 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.
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Alerts on its grants, lapses and transfers.
What's changing
Note
The 1170 days of patent term adjustment (USPTO delay) are read from the USPTO record, not recalculated by us
Citations
5
later US patents cite this one
That is below 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.