Term ended Jan 3, 2025 · High confidence
20-year base term ended Jan 3, 2025
Filed Oct 16, 2015 as application 14/885,083 · Granted Jun 14, 2016
Base term, 20 years from filing
Today
Term ended Jan 3, 2025
2005
2026
Clock starts
Jan 3, 2005
Jan 3, 2005
Term ended
Jan 3, 2025
Jan 3, 2025
Granted
Jun 14, 2016
Jun 14, 2016
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.
No effect
Terminal disclaimer
Resolved from the filed document, referencing US 9,177,050, to Jan 3, 2025. The term already ends on or before that date, so the cap shortened nothing.
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.
6
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 resolved from the filed document, and it ends no earlier than this term, so it shortens nothing. 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 Jan 3, 2005, when application 11/028,476, the earliest non-provisional in its chain, was filed (this one was filed Oct 16, 2015) | Jan 3, 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 | Disclaimer resolved from the filed document (refs US 9,177,050) | resolves to Jan 3, 2025, no earlier than this term, so no change | High confidence |
| Patent term extension | None on file | no change | High confidence |
| Fee events | 2 of 2 maintenance fees paid | term ended | High confidence |
| Computed term end | The steps above, in order | Jan 3, 2025 | High confidence |
This family
| US 9,317,587 | In force Apr 2029 | Apr 2029 |
| US 9,646,082 | Term ended Jan 2025 | Jan 2025 |
| US 9,177,050 | In force Jan 2027 | Jan 2027 |
| US 9,552,420 | Term ended Jan 2025 | Jan 2025 |
| US 9,367,604 | this patent Jan 2025 | Jan 2025 |
| US 10,387,462 | Term ended Dec 2025 | Dec 2025 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dec 4, 2015 Reel 37211, frame 888 | Dahn, Michael | West Publishing Corporation | Assignment of Assignor's Interest |
| Dec 4, 2015 Reel 37211, frame 959 | Lu, Qiang J. | Thomson Reuters Global Resources | Assignment of Assignor's Interest |
| Dec 4, 2015 Reel 37211, frame 981 | Keenan, William; Conrad, Jack G. | Thomson Reuters Holdings Inc. | Assignment of Assignor's Interest |
| Dec 11, 2015 Reel 37273, frame 201 | Thomson Reuters Holdings Inc. | Thomson Reuters Global Resources | Assignment of Assignor's Interest |
| Dec 11, 2015 Reel 37273, frame 859 | West Publishing Corporation | Thomson Reuters Global Resources | Assignment of Assignor's Interest |
| Nov 30, 2017 Reel 44263, frame 812 | Thomson Reuters Global Resources | Thomson Reuters Global Resources Unlimited Company | Change of Name |
| Mar 5, 2020 Reel 52029, frame 193 | Thomson Reuters Global Resources Unlimited Company | Thomson Reuters Enterprise Centre GmbH | 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.
Terminal disclaimer
A terminal disclaimer resolved from the filed document, referencing US 9,177,050, ends no earlier than this term, so it caps nothing.
Citations
4
later US patents cite this one
That is below the median 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
Computed patent terms end on the dates shown. Related patents and pending applications may cover overlapping subject matter.