Term ends Sep 23, 2028 · Medium confidence
20-year base term ended Dec 9, 2025
Why Medium: A parent in the chain could not be resolved.
Held by Hitachi Metals, Ltd.
Filed Jul 23, 2010 as application 12/842,671 · Granted Jul 8, 2014
Base term plus 1019 days of patent term adjustment (USPTO delay)
Today
2005
2028
Clock starts
Dec 9, 2005
Dec 9, 2005
Term ends
Sep 23, 2028
Sep 23, 2028
Granted
Jul 8, 2014
Jul 8, 2014
base term
patent term adjustment
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
1,019
Days of term adjustment
Read from the USPTO patent term adjustment record, not recalculated here.
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.
3
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 runs 1019 days past its 20-year base term on prosecution delay. All three maintenance fees are recorded paid; no more fees are due. Confidence: Medium. 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 9, 2005, when application PCT/JP2005/022693, the earliest non-provisional in its chain, was filed (this one was filed Jul 23, 2010); a parent in its chain could not be resolved (the next row) | Dec 9, 2025 | High confidence |
| Continuity chain | A parent in the chain could not be resolved | dated from this application's own claim | Medium confidence |
| Patent term adjustment | +1019 days, USPTO patent term adjustment record | Sep 23, 2028 | 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 | Sep 23, 2028 | Medium confidence |
This family
| US 7,832,099 | In force Jan 2027 | Jan 2027 |
| US 8,769,813 | this patent Sep 2028 | Sep 2028 |
2 of 3 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 17, 2014 Reel 31994, frame 543 | Hitachi Cable, Ltd. | Hitachi Metals, Ltd. | Merger |
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
Sep 2028
Term ends Sep 23, 2028. No further fees fall due before then
Note
The 1019 days of patent term adjustment (USPTO delay) are read from the USPTO record, not recalculated by us
Citations
0
later US patents cite this one
That is below the median of utility patents granted in 2014 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.