Term ends Jan 10, 2027 · High confidence
20-year base term ends Jan 10, 2027
Held by Ethicon LLC
Filed Feb 9, 2012 as application 13/369,609 · Granted Jul 9, 2013
Base term, 20 years from filing
Today
2007
2027
Clock starts
Jan 10, 2007
Jan 10, 2007
Term ends
Jan 10, 2027
Jan 10, 2027
Granted
Jul 9, 2013
Jul 9, 2013
base term
fee events
Updated Nov 15, 2026 · includes USPTO assignment & status data published Nov 15, 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.
38
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 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 Jan 10, 2007, when application 11/651,807, the earliest non-provisional in its chain, was filed (this one was filed Feb 9, 2012) | Jan 10, 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 | 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 | Jan 10, 2027 | High confidence |
This family
| US 8,459,520 | Lapsed on the fee record Jun 2025 | Jun 2025 |
| US 8,517,243 | Lapsed on the fee record Aug 2025 | Aug 2025 |
| Application 13/037,498 | Abandoned not computed | not computed |
| US 8,684,253 | Lapsed on the fee record Apr 2026 | Apr 2026 |
| US 8,479,969 | this patent Jan 2027 | Jan 2027 |
| Application PCT/US2012/026997 | PCT application no patent term | no patent term |
| Application PCT/US2012/039156 | PCT application no patent term | no patent term |
| Application 13/489,500 | Abandoned not computed | not computed |
8 of 38 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 3, 2012 Reel 28151, frame 112 | Shelton, Frederick E., IV | Ethicon Endo-Surgery, Inc. | Assignment of Assignor's Interest |
| Dec 6, 2015 Reel 37220, frame 212 | Ethicon Endo-Surgery, Inc. | Ethicon Endo-Surgery, LLC | Assignment of Assignor's Interest |
| Feb 27, 2017 Reel 41821, frame 186 | Ethicon Endo-Surgery, LLC | Ethicon LLC | Change of Name |
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
Jan 2027
Term ends Jan 10, 2027. No further fees fall due before then
Citations
2,629
later US patents cite this one
That is top 1% of utility patents granted in 2013 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.