Term ends Feb 18, 2031 · Medium confidence
20-year base term ends Feb 18, 2031
Why Medium: The disclaimer's references carry disclaimers of their own not yet read (US 8,738,403, US 8,756,079), so the cap could be lower.
Filed Jun 5, 2012 as application 13/489,266 · Granted Feb 27, 2018
Base term, 20 years from filing
Today
2011
2031
Clock starts
Feb 18, 2011
Feb 18, 2011
Term ends
Feb 18, 2031
Feb 18, 2031
Granted
Feb 27, 2018
Feb 27, 2018
base term
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 8,694,335, US 8,738,403, US 8,756,079, US 8,768,723, US 8,788,289, to Feb 18, 2031. The term already ends on or before that date, so the cap shortened nothing.
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.
23
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. 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 Feb 18, 2011, when application 13/030,959, the earliest non-provisional in its chain, was filed (this one was filed Jun 5, 2012) | Feb 18, 2031 | 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 8,694,335, US 8,738,403, US 8,756,079, US 8,768,723, US 8,788,289) | resolves to Feb 18, 2031, no earlier than this term, so no change | 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 | Feb 18, 2031 | Medium confidence |
This family
| US 8,788,289 | In force Feb 2031 | Feb 2031 |
| US 8,768,723 | In force Feb 2031 | Feb 2031 |
| US 8,799,021 | In force Feb 2031 | Feb 2031 |
| US 10,460,288 | In force May 2031 | May 2031 |
| US 8,738,403 | In force no later than Feb 2031 | no later than Feb 2031 |
| Application PCT/US2012/025546 | PCT application no patent term | no patent term |
| US 9,905,229 | this patent Feb 2031 | Feb 2031 |
| US 8,756,079 | In force no later than Feb 2031 | no later than Feb 2031 |
8 of 23 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 13, 2012 Reel 28364, frame 610 | Montyne, Frank; Decraene, David; Van Der Vloet, Joeri; Raedemaeker, Johan; Desimpel, Ignace; Coppens, Frederik; Deray, Tom; Flanagan, James R.; Casella Dos Santos, Mariana; Holvoet, Marnix; Van Gurp, Maria; Hellman, David; Yegnanarayanan, Girija; Doyle, Karen Anne | Nuance Communications, Inc. | Assignment of Assignor's Interest |
| Oct 30, 2023 Reel 65396, frame 59 | Nuance Communications, Inc. | Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC | Assignment of Assignor's Interest |
| Nov 9, 2023 Reel 65533, frame 389 | Nuance Communications, Inc. | Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC | 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.
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Alerts on its grants, lapses and transfers.
What's changing
Feb 2031
Term ends Feb 18, 2031. Maintenance fees still fall due before then
Terminal disclaimer
A terminal disclaimer resolved from the filed document, referencing US 8,694,335, US 8,738,403, US 8,756,079, US 8,768,723, US 8,788,289, ends no earlier than this term, so it caps nothing.
Citations
54
later US patents cite this one
That is top 5% of utility patents granted in 2018 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.
In force means the term is running and no lapse is on record. It is not a finding that the patent is valid.