Extensions

Patent Term Adjustments (PTA) and Patent Term Extensions (PTE) for US Patent 10937880

Based on the available information, here's a breakdown of the patent term adjustments, patent term extensions, related applications, and projected expiration date for US Patent 10937880:

Patent Term Adjustments (PTA)

Patent Term Adjustment (PTA) compensates patent owners for administrative delays by the USPTO during the prosecution of a utility or plant patent application. This includes delays such as not issuing an office action within 14 months of filing, not responding to an applicant's reply within four months, or not issuing a patent within three years of the filing date.

US patent 10937880 does not explicitly state any awarded Patent Term Adjustments on its Google Patents page. To determine if any PTA was granted, one would typically need to consult the patent's issue certificate or official patent data directly from the USPTO. The USPTO does not calculate expiration dates for patents, but provides resources like a downloadable patent term calculator for estimation, considering factors like PTA and PTE.

Patent Term Extensions (PTE)

Patent Term Extension (PTE) is granted for patents covering pharmaceutical products, medical devices, animal drugs, veterinary biologics, or food/color additives to compensate for time lost during the regulatory approval process by agencies like the FDA. A PTE can extend a patent's term by up to five years, but not beyond 14 years from the date of FDA approval. Only one patent can be extended for a regulatory review period for any given product.

Given the technical field of US patent 10937880, which relates to "Method for depinning the Fermi level of a semiconductor at an electrical junction and devices incorporating such junctions," it is highly unlikely to be eligible for Patent Term Extension (PTE) under 35 U.S.C. § 156, as it does not appear to cover a product requiring regulatory approval like a drug or medical device.

Continuation and Divisional Applications

US patent 10937880 is explicitly stated as a CONTINUATION of several earlier applications. This means it claims priority back to an earlier-filed application and typically covers the same or substantially similar subject matter as its parent application, but with different claims.

The patent text states: "The present application is a CONTINUATION of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/847,878, filed Apr. 14, 2020, which is a CONTINUATION of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/506,022, filed Jul. 9, 2019, which is a CONTINUATION of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/728,002, filed Oct. 9, 2017, now U.S. Pat. No. 10,388,748, which is a CONTINUATION of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/251,210, filed Aug. 30, 2016, now U.S. Pat. No. 9,812,542, which is a CONTINUATION of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/048,877, filed Feb. 19, 2016, now U.S. Pat. No. 9,905,691, which is a CONTINUATION of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/552,556, filed Jul. 18, 2012, now U.S. Pat. No. 9,425,277, which is a CONTINUATION of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/022,522, filed Feb. 7, 2011, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,431,469, which is a DIVISIONAL of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/197,996, filed Aug. 25, 2008, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,884,003, which is a DIVISIONAL of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/181,217, filed Jul. 13, 2005, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,462,860, which is a CONTINUATION of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/217,758, filed Aug. 12, 2002, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,084,423, all of which are hereby incorporated by reference."

This chain indicates that US10937880 is a continuation of many applications, ultimately tracing its priority back to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/217,758, filed on August 12, 2002.

The patent also specifies two DIVISIONAL applications in its family tree:

• U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/197,996, filed Aug. 25, 2008, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,884,003
• U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/181,217, filed Jul. 13, 2005, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,462,860

Related Family Members

The explicit chain of continuation and divisional applications detailed above constitutes the primary related family members described within the patent itself.

• Parent applications (in chronological order of filing from earliest to latest leading to US10937880):
  • U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/217,758, filed Aug. 12, 2002, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,084,423
  • U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/181,217, filed Jul. 13, 2005, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,462,860 (Divisional)
  • U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/197,996, filed Aug. 25, 2008, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,884,003 (Divisional)
  • U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/022,522, filed Feb. 7, 2011, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,431,469 (Continuation)
  • U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/552,556, filed Jul. 18, 2012, now U.S. Pat. No. 9,425,277 (Continuation)
  • U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/048,877, filed Feb. 19, 2016, now U.S. Pat. No. 9,905,691 (Continuation)
  • U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/251,210, filed Aug. 30, 2016, now U.S. Pat. No. 9,812,542 (Continuation)
  • U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/728,002, filed Oct. 9, 2017, now U.S. Pat. No. 10,388,748 (Continuation)
  • U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/506,022, filed Jul. 9, 2019 (Continuation)
  • U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/847,878, filed Apr. 14, 2020 (Continuation)
  • U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/929,592, filed May 12, 2020 (Continuation) (Note: The provided summary states US10937880 is a continuation of 15/929,592, filed May 12, 2020. The detailed description states it's a continuation of 16/847,878, filed Apr. 14, 2020. The abstract and filing date for US10937880 also lists 15/929,592, filed May 12, 2020. This indicates a potential discrepancy in the provided text regarding the immediate parent application for US10937880. However, both ultimately trace back to the same earliest priority date).

Projected Expiration Date

The term for a utility patent, such as US10937880, is generally 20 years from the filing date of the earliest non-provisional application for which a benefit is claimed. In this case, the earliest priority date is August 12, 2002, from U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/217,758.

Therefore, the anticipated expiration date for US Patent 10937880, without considering any potential Patent Term Adjustments or Extensions, would be 20 years from August 12, 2002, which is August 12, 2022.

However, the Google Patents information for US10937880 states its legal status as "Expired - Fee Related" and lists an "Anticipated expiration" date of "2022-08-12". This confirms the calculation based on the earliest priority date.