Term ends no later than Apr 2, 2032 · Medium confidence
20-year base term ends Aug 28, 2029
In force on USPTO's status record and by its fee record. A terminal disclaimer on file may shorten this term, possibly to a date already past; its reference document is unresolved, so the date above is an upper bound and no earlier date is guessed.
Held by Tokyo Electron Limited
Filed Aug 28, 2009 as application 12/549,446 · Granted Feb 23, 2016
Base term plus 948 days of patent term adjustment (USPTO delay)
Today
2009
2032
Clock starts
Aug 28, 2009
Aug 28, 2009
Ends no later than
Apr 2, 2032
Apr 2, 2032
Granted
Feb 23, 2016
Feb 23, 2016
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
948
Days of term adjustment
Read from the USPTO patent term adjustment record, not recalculated here.
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 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.
85
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 948 days past its 20-year base term on prosecution delay. A terminal disclaimer is on file with no resolved reference, so no cap is applied and none is guessed. 2 of 3 maintenance fees are paid so far. 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 Aug 28, 2009, when this application, 12/549,446, was filed | Aug 28, 2029 | High confidence |
| Continuity chain | Every parent in the chain resolved | no change | High confidence |
| Patent term adjustment | +948 days, USPTO patent term adjustment record | Apr 2, 2032 | High confidence |
| Terminal disclaimer cap | Disclaimer on file (filed), 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 3 maintenance fees paid | In force | High confidence |
| Computed term end | The steps above, in order | no later than Apr 2, 2032 | Medium confidence |
This family
| US 8,123,194 | Lapsed on the fee record Feb 2020 | Feb 2020 |
| Application 12/076,975 | Abandoned not computed | not computed |
| Application 12/147,707 | Abandoned not computed | not computed |
| Application 12/238,692 | Abandoned not computed | not computed |
| Application 12/304,324 | Abandoned not computed | not computed |
| US 8,030,717 | Lapsed on the fee record Oct 2015 | Oct 2015 |
| Application 12/410,492 | Abandoned not computed | not computed |
| Application 12/487,719 | Abandoned not computed | not computed |
8 of 85 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 28, 2009 Reel 23161, frame 36 | Honma, Manabu | Tokyo Electron Limited | 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.
What's changing
Apr 2032
Term ends no later than Apr 2, 2032. Maintenance fees still fall due before then
Note
A terminal disclaimer is on file and its reference is not resolved. No cap is applied and none is guessed
Note
The 948 days of patent term adjustment (USPTO delay) are read from the USPTO record, not recalculated by us
Open question
A terminal disclaimer is on file (filed) and its reference document is not resolved. A disclaimer would cap the term earlier than Apr 2, 2032. We will not guess the cap.
Citations
845
later US patents cite this one
That is top 1% of utility patents granted in 2016 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.
In force means the term is running and no lapse is on record. It is not a finding that the patent is valid.