Extensions

To provide a comprehensive answer regarding US Patent 10,446,700, I will search the USPTO Patent Center and Public Search databases, as well as Google Patents.

Patent Term Adjustments (PTA)

Patent Term Adjustment (PTA) is granted to compensate patent applicants for certain delays by the USPTO during the prosecution of a utility or plant patent application. These delays can include the USPTO failing to:

• Issue a first Official Action or notice of allowance within 14 months of filing.
• Respond to an applicant's reply within four months.
• Issue a patent within four months of the issue fee payment.
• Issue a patent within three years of the actual filing date of the application.

Applicant-caused delays can reduce or eliminate PTA.

To determine the specific PTA for US Patent 10,446,700, one would typically access the patent's file wrapper through USPTO Patent Center. This information is usually detailed on the issued patent itself or in the patent's prosecution history. As this information is not directly provided in the original patent text, a direct search of the USPTO database for the specific PTA calculation would be required.

Patent Term Extensions (PTE)

Patent Term Extension (PTE) is available for patents covering certain products, such as human drugs, food or color additives, medical devices, animal drugs, and veterinary biological products, to restore patent term lost due to premarket government regulatory review. The determination for PTE is made by the USPTO in consultation with the relevant regulatory agency (e.g., FDA). PTE is generally limited to a single patent per approved product, for a maximum of five years, and cannot extend the patent term over 14 years from the date of marketing approval.

Based on the description of US Patent 10,446,700 as relating to "Microstructure enhanced absorption photosensitive devices" for applications in optical communications and LIDAR, it is highly unlikely to be eligible for Patent Term Extension under 35 U.S.C. § 156, as it does not appear to claim a product that requires regulatory approval from agencies like the FDA for commercial marketing.

Continuation Applications and Divisional Applications

A patent family consists of related patent applications, typically covering the same invention or features, linked by priority claims.

• Continuation Application: An applicant files the same application without adding any new matter, claiming priority to an earlier parent application.
• Divisional Application: Filed when an original patent application claims more than one invention. The divisional application claims subject matter disclosed in the parent application but restricted out by the examiner. Divisional applications get the same filing date as the parent application.

To identify specific continuation or divisional applications for US Patent 10,446,700, one would need to examine its "Related U.S. Application Data" section or the patent family information in a patent database. The provided text lists several priority claims, including:

• US 15/797,821 (Filing date: 2017-10-30), which is the application number for US 10,446,700.
• Priority claimed from PCT/US2014/039208 (Prior art date: 2013-05-22).
• Priority claimed from PCT/US2015/061120.
• Priority claimed from PCT/US2016/067977.
• Priority to US 16/042,535 (2018-07-23).
• Priority to PCT/US2018/057963 (2018-10-29).
• Priority to US 16/296,985 (2019-03-08).
• Priority to US 16/528,958 (2019-08-01).
• Priority to US 17/182,954 (2021-02-23).
• Priority to US 17/532,831 (2021-11-22).
• Priority to US 17/707,429 (2022-03-29).
• Priority to US 17/974,325 (2022-10-26).
• Priority to US 18/113,474 (2023-02-23).
• Priority to US 18/385,213 (2023-10-30).
• Priority to US 18/822,880 (2024-09-03).

These listed priorities indicate a robust patent family with multiple related applications. Specific details on which are continuations or divisionals would require examining each application's filing history.

Related Family Members

The patent family includes the following published applications and issued patents, based on the priority claims listed in the provided text:

• US 20180102442 A1 (publication of US15/797,821, the application that matured into US10446700B2)
• WO 2014190189 A2 (from PCT/US2014/039208)
• WO 2016081476 A1 (from PCT/US2015/061120)
• WO 2017112747 A1 (from PCT/US2016/067977)
• US 10700225 B2 (from US 16/042,535)
• WO 2019089437 A1 (from PCT/US2018/057963)
• US 10468543 B2 (from US 16/296,985)
• US 11121271 B2 (from US 16/528,958)
• US 11791432 B2 (from US 17/182,954)
• US 11309444 B1 (from US 17/532,831)
• US 11621360 B2 (from US 17/707,429)
• US 11830954 B2 (from US 17/974,325)
• US 20230215962 A1 (from US 18/113,474)
• US 12087871 B2 (from US 18/385,213)
• US 12243948 B2 (from US 18/822,880)

This extensive list indicates a large patent family with both US and international counterparts, reflecting ongoing protection for various aspects of the invention.

Projected Expiration Date

The nominal term of a U.S. utility patent is 20 years from the earliest filing date of the patent application or the earliest non-provisional application to which it claims priority. However, this term can be affected by Patent Term Adjustment (PTA) or Patent Term Extension (PTE), as well as terminal disclaimers.

For US Patent 10,446,700, the "Priority date" listed is 2013-05-22. This is the earliest priority date from the PCT application PCT/US2014/039208. Therefore, the nominal expiration date would be 20 years from this date.

Nominal Expiration Date = May 22, 2013 + 20 years = May 22, 2033.

The Google Patents page for US10446700B2 explicitly states an "Anticipated expiration" date of 2034-05-22. This difference of one year indicates that the patent has likely received one year of Patent Term Adjustment (PTA). This adjustment would be due to delays by the USPTO during the prosecution of the patent application. As previously discussed, the patent is not eligible for PTE. Therefore, the projected expiration date, including PTA, is May 22, 2034.