Collateral for a security interest recorded Nov 4, 2024 (Wilmington Trust, National Association).
Term ended Sep 1, 2026 · Medium confidence
20-year base term ended Feb 3, 2026
Why Medium: A parent in the chain could not be resolved.
Held by Level 3 Communications, LLC
Filed Aug 31, 2012 as application 13/601,806 · Granted Mar 31, 2015
Base term plus 210 days of patent term adjustment (USPTO delay)
Today
Term ended Sep 1, 2026
2006
2026
Clock starts
Feb 3, 2006
Feb 3, 2006
Term ended
Sep 1, 2026
Sep 1, 2026
Granted
Mar 31, 2015
Mar 31, 2015
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
210
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.
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 runs 210 days past its 20-year base term on prosecution delay. All three maintenance fees were paid, so no fee lapse ended it. 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 Feb 3, 2006, when application 11/347,810, the earliest non-provisional in its chain, was filed (this one was filed Aug 31, 2012); a parent in its chain could not be resolved (the next row) | Feb 3, 2026 | 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 | +210 days, USPTO patent term adjustment record | Sep 1, 2026 | 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 | term ended | High confidence |
| Computed term end | The steps above, in order | Sep 1, 2026 | Medium confidence |
This family
| US 8,526,446 | In force Apr 2029 | Apr 2029 |
| US 8,064,467 | In force May 2028 | May 2028 |
| Application PCT/US2007/061629 | PCT application no patent term | no patent term |
| US 9,426,092 | In force May 2028 | May 2028 |
| Application PCT/US2007/085977 | PCT application no patent term | no patent term |
| US 8,259,713 | In force May 2028 | May 2028 |
| US 8,995,451 | this patent Sep 2026 | Sep 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 7, 2012 Reel 28918, frame 628 | Lawrence, Joseph; El-aawar, Nassar; Alcala, Raoul; Comstedt, Niclas; Loher, Darren; Wright, Steven C. | Level 3 Communications, LLC | Assignment of Assignor's Interest |
| Nov 4, 2024 Reel 69295, frame 749 | Level 3 Communications, LLC; Global Crossing Telecommunications, Inc. | Wilmington Trust, National Association, as Collateral Agent | Notice of Grant of Security Interest in Intellectual Property (Second Lien) |
| Nov 4, 2024 Reel 69295, frame 858 | Level 3 Communications, LLC; Global Crossing Telecommunications, Inc. | Wilmington Trust, National Association, as Collateral Agent | Notice of Grant of Security Interest in Intellectual Property (First Lien) |
| Jun 12, 2026 Reel 75738, frame 427 | Wilmington Trust, National Association, as Retiring Collateral Agent | U.S. Bank Trust Company, National Association, as Successor Collateral Agent | Assignment of First Lien Security Interest in Patent Collateral Recorded at R/F 069295/0858 |
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
Note
The 210 days of patent term adjustment (USPTO delay) are read from the USPTO record, not recalculated by us
Citations
4
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.