Term ended Apr 20, 2024 · High confidence
20-year base term ended Apr 20, 2024
Held by Meta Platforms, Inc.
Filed Jan 7, 2011 as application 12/986,941 · Granted Nov 5, 2013
Base term, 20 years from filing
Today
Term ended Apr 20, 2024
2004
2026
Clock starts
Apr 20, 2004
Apr 20, 2004
Term ended
Apr 20, 2024
Apr 20, 2024
Granted
Nov 5, 2013
Nov 5, 2013
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 7,383,308, to Apr 20, 2024. 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.
6
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 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.
| Step | Input | Date after this step | Confidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| Base term, 20 years from filing | Clock starts Apr 20, 2004, when application 10/827,420, the earliest non-provisional in its chain, was filed (this one was filed Jan 7, 2011) | Apr 20, 2024 | 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 7,383,308) | resolves to Apr 20, 2024, 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 | term ended | High confidence |
| Computed term end | The steps above, in order | Apr 20, 2024 | High confidence |
This family
| US 7,383,308 | In force Dec 2026 | Dec 2026 |
| US 7,599,990 | Term ended Apr 2024 | Apr 2024 |
| US 7,870,215 | Term ended Apr 2024 | Apr 2024 |
| US 8,577,975 | this patent Apr 2024 | Apr 2024 |
| Application 13/620,953 | Abandoned not computed | not computed |
| US 9,621,377 | Term ended Jul 2024 | Jul 2024 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 13, 2011 Reel 25629, frame 177 | Groves, Blake; Renner, W. Karl | America Online, Inc. | Assignment of Assignor's Interest |
| Jan 13, 2011 Reel 25629, frame 339 | AOL LLC | AOL Inc. | Assignment of Assignor's Interest |
| Jan 13, 2011 Reel 25630, frame 116 | America Online, Inc. | AOL LLC | Change of Name |
| Jun 28, 2012 Reel 28463, frame 125 | AOL Inc. | Facebook, Inc. | Assignment of Assignor's Interest |
| Dec 20, 2021 Reel 58961, frame 436 | Facebook, Inc. | Meta Platforms, Inc. | 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.
Terminal disclaimer
A terminal disclaimer resolved from the filed document, referencing US 7,383,308, ends no earlier than this term, so it caps nothing.
Citations
22
later US patents cite this one
That is top 25% 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.