Lapsed Dec 3, 2025 on the fee record · High confidence
20-year base term ends Dec 13, 2026
Third maintenance fee unpaid; grace period ended.
Filed Jul 12, 2010 as application 12/834,398 · Granted Dec 3, 2013
Base term, 20 years from filing, plus 397 days of patent term adjustment (USPTO delay)
Today
Lapsed Dec 3, 2025
2006
2028
Clock starts
Dec 13, 2006
Dec 13, 2006
No longer in force
Dec 3, 2025
Dec 3, 2025
Granted
Dec 3, 2013
Dec 3, 2013
Term would have run to
Jan 14, 2028
Jan 14, 2028
base term
patent term adjustment
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
397
Days of term adjustment
Read from the USPTO patent term adjustment record, not recalculated here.
No effect
Terminal disclaimer
Resolved from the filed document, referencing US 7,756,545, to Jan 14, 2028. The term already ends on or before that date, so the cap shortened nothing.
2 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.
4
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 Jan 14, 2028: its 20-year base term plus 397 days of term 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. 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 Dec 13, 2006, when application PCT/US2006/062047, the earliest non-provisional in its chain, was filed (this one was filed Jul 12, 2010) | Dec 13, 2026 | High confidence |
| Continuity chain | Every parent in the chain resolved | no change | High confidence |
| Patent term adjustment | +397 days, USPTO patent term adjustment record | Jan 14, 2028 | High confidence |
| Terminal disclaimer cap | Disclaimer resolved from the filed document (refs US 7,756,545) | resolves to Jan 14, 2028, no earlier than this term, so no change | High confidence |
| Patent term extension | None on file | no change | High confidence |
| Fee events | 2 of 3 maintenance fees paid | lapsed Dec 3, 2025 | High confidence |
| Computed term end | The steps above, in order | Dec 3, 2025 | High confidence |
This family
| Application PCT/US2006/062047 | PCT application no patent term | no patent term |
| US 7,756,545 | In force Nov 2028 | Nov 2028 |
| US 8,600,429 | this patent Dec 2025 | Dec 2025 |
| US 9,313,606 | In force Dec 2026 | Dec 2026 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 2, 2011 Reel 25885, frame 295 | Snapin Software, Inc. | Nuance Communications, Inc. | Assignment of Assignor's Interest |
| Oct 17, 2023 Reel 65254, frame 449 | Nuance Communications, Inc. | Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC | Assignment of Assignor's Interest |
| Nov 13, 2023 Reel 65552, frame 934 | Nuance Communications, Inc. | Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC | 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 397 days of patent term adjustment (USPTO delay) are read from the USPTO record, not recalculated by us
Terminal disclaimer
A terminal disclaimer resolved from the filed document, referencing US 7,756,545, ends no earlier than this term, so it caps nothing.
Citations
18
later US patents cite this one
That is above the median 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.