Term ended no later than Jul 21, 2026 · Medium confidence
20-year base term ended Jul 21, 2026
USPTO later recorded it as expired for non-payment on Nov 9, 2026.
No current holder resolved from the recorded chain.
Filed Sep 12, 2011 as application 13/230,017 · Granted Oct 7, 2014
Base term, 20 years from filing
Today
Ended no later than Jul 21, 2026
2006
2026
Clock starts
Jul 21, 2006
Jul 21, 2006
Ended no later than
Jul 21, 2026
Jul 21, 2026
Granted
Oct 7, 2014
Oct 7, 2014
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.
Unresolved
Terminal disclaimer
On file, reference document not resolved, so the date above is an upper bound. We do not guess the cap.
2 of 2
Maintenance fees paid
Two maintenance fees can end this term early, the ones due 3.5 and 7.5 years from grant; the third one's grace period runs past the term end. This counts the ones the record shows paid.
7
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 on file with no resolved reference, so no cap is applied and none is guessed. 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 Jul 21, 2006, when application 11/491,348, the earliest non-provisional in its chain, was filed (this one was filed Sep 12, 2011) | Jul 21, 2026 | 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 on file (approved), reference document not resolved | no cap applied, and none guessed | Medium confidence |
| Patent term extension | None on file | no change | High confidence |
| Fee events | 2 of 2 maintenance fees paid | term ended | High confidence |
| USPTO status record | Recorded as expired for non-payment on Nov 9, 2026, after the term ended | no change | High confidence |
| Computed term end | The steps above, in order | no later than Jul 21, 2026 | Medium confidence |
This family
| Application 11/491,348 | Abandoned not computed | not computed |
| US 7,837,677 | Term ended Jul 2026 | Jul 2026 |
| US 8,043,285 | Term ended Jul 2026 | Jul 2026 |
| US 8,852,178 | this patent no later than Jul 2026 | no later than Jul 2026 |
| US 10,722,284 | Lapsed on the fee record Jul 2024 | Jul 2024 |
| US 11,672,587 | In force Dec 2026 | Dec 2026 |
| US 12,539,161 | Term ended Jul 2026 | Jul 2026 |
The applications whose file history this site holds. The family may have others.
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.
What's changing
Note
A terminal disclaimer is on file and its reference is not resolved. No cap is applied and none is guessed
Open question
A terminal disclaimer is on file (approved) and its reference document is not resolved. A disclaimer would cap the term earlier than Jul 21, 2026. We will not guess the cap.
Citations
18
later US patents cite this one
That is above 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
This computed term ends no later than the date shown; an unresolved terminal disclaimer may end it earlier. Related patents and pending applications may cover overlapping subject matter.