Term ended Dec 16, 2023 · High confidence
20-year base term ended Dec 16, 2023
USPTO later recorded it as expired for non-payment on Apr 13, 2026.
Held by Universal Electronics Inc.
Filed May 13, 2016 as application 15/153,905 · Granted Mar 6, 2018
Base term, 20 years from filing
Today
Term ended Dec 16, 2023
2003
2026
Clock starts
Dec 16, 2003
Dec 16, 2003
Term ended
Dec 16, 2023
Dec 16, 2023
Granted
Mar 6, 2018
Mar 6, 2018
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 1
Maintenance fees paid
One maintenance fee can end this term early, the one due 3.5 years from grant; the next one's grace period runs past the term end. This counts it if the record shows it 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 is 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 Dec 16, 2003, when application 10/737,029, the earliest non-provisional in its chain, was filed (this one was filed May 13, 2016) | Dec 16, 2023 | 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 1 maintenance fees paid | term ended | High confidence |
| USPTO status record | Recorded as expired for non-payment on Apr 13, 2026, after the term ended | no change | High confidence |
| Computed term end | The steps above, in order | Dec 16, 2023 | High confidence |
This family
| US 7,589,642 | In force Nov 2026 | Nov 2026 |
| US 8,004,389 | Term ended Jan 2024 | Jan 2024 |
| US 9,355,553 | In force no later than Feb 2027 | no later than Feb 2027 |
| US 9,911,325 | this patent Dec 2023 | Dec 2023 |
| Application 15/864,339 | Abandoned not computed | not computed |
| Application 16/057,544 | Abandoned not computed | not computed |
| Application 90/019,291 | Pending not computed | not computed |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 22, 2016 Reel 39218, frame 1 | Zilog, Inc. | Uei Cayman Inc. | Nunc Pro Tunc Assignment |
| Jul 22, 2016 Reel 39218, frame 71 | Uei Cayman Inc. | C.G. Development Limited | Assignment of Assignor's Interest |
| Jul 22, 2016 Reel 39218, frame 186 | C.G. Development Limited; Uei Cayman Inc. | Universal Electronics Inc. | Assignment of Assignor's Interest |
| May 10, 2019 Reel 49140, frame 517 | Mui, Daniel Saufu | Zilog, Inc. | 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.
Citations
0
later US patents cite this one
That is below the median 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.