Lapsed Mar 31, 2023 on the fee record · High confidence
20-year base term ended Aug 8, 2025
Second maintenance fee unpaid; grace period ended.
Held by Covidien LP
Filed Oct 22, 2012 as application 13/657,181 · Granted Mar 31, 2015
Base term, 20 years from filing
Today
Lapsed Mar 31, 2023
2005
2026
Clock starts
Aug 8, 2005
Aug 8, 2005
No longer in force
Mar 31, 2023
Mar 31, 2023
Granted
Mar 31, 2015
Mar 31, 2015
Term would have run to
Aug 8, 2025
Aug 8, 2025
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.
None
Terminal disclaimer
No disclaimer on this record.
1 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.
6
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 Aug 8, 2025: its 20-year base term, with no adjustment for prosecution delay. 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 Aug 8, 2005, when application 11/199,345, the earliest non-provisional in its chain, was filed (this one was filed Oct 22, 2012) | Aug 8, 2025 | 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 | 1 of 2 maintenance fees paid | lapsed Mar 31, 2023 | High confidence |
| Computed term end | The steps above, in order | Mar 31, 2023 | High confidence |
This family
| US 7,657,294 | In force Nov 2026 | Nov 2026 |
| US 7,574,244 | Lapsed on the fee record Aug 2017 | Aug 2017 |
| US 7,647,084 | In force Dec 2026 | Dec 2026 |
| Application PCT/US2006/030674 | PCT application no patent term | no patent term |
| US 8,311,602 | Lapsed on the fee record Nov 2024 | Nov 2024 |
| US 8,991,034 | this patent Mar 2023 | Mar 2023 |
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 30, 2013 Reel 30515, frame 6 | Eghbal, Darius; Coakley, Joseph; Matlock, George L.; Raridan, William, JR. | Covidien LP | 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.
Free plan: 3 watched companies. Pro: unlimited.
Alerts on its grants, lapses and transfers.
Citations
0
later US patents cite this one
That is below the median of utility patents granted in 2015 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.