Extensions

The current date is May 30, 2026.

Patent Term Adjustment (PTA) for US11031677

Patent Term Adjustment (PTA) compensates patent applicants for certain delays caused by the USPTO during the prosecution of a utility or plant patent application. The total PTA is added to the standard 20-year lifespan of the patent. Delays that may lead to PTA include:

• Failure to issue an office action within 14 months of the application filing.
• Failure to respond to a reply or an appeal within four months.
• Failure to act on an application within four months after a decision by the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) or a federal court.
• Failure to issue a patent within four months after payment of an issue fee.
• Failure to issue a patent within 36 months from the filing date of the application.

The USPTO automatically calculates the PTA and provides this information in the Issue Notification Letter.

While the Google Patents record for US11031677 indicates an "Anticipated expiration" date, it does not explicitly state the amount of Patent Term Adjustment granted. To determine the precise PTA, one would typically need to consult the patent's Issue Notification Letter or the full prosecution history in USPTO PatentCenter.

Patent Term Extension (PTE) for US11031677

Patent Term Extension (PTE) is available under the Hatch-Waxman Act (35 U.S.C. § 156) for patents on certain human drugs, food or color additives, medical devices, animal drugs, and veterinary biological products. This extension aims to restore patent term lost due to the time required for premarket government approval from regulatory agencies like the FDA.

There is no information in the provided patent text or search results to suggest that US11031677, which pertains to "Multiple-body-configuration multimedia and smartphone multifunction wireless devices," is eligible for or has received any Patent Term Extension. This type of patent typically does not fall under the categories for which PTE is granted (e.g., pharmaceuticals, medical devices requiring FDA approval).

Continuation and Divisional Applications, and Related Family Members

US11031677B2 is part of a patent family and claims benefit from several earlier applications. The patent text explicitly states:
"This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/856,626 filed Dec. 28, 2017, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/738,090 filed Jun. 12, 2015, which is now U.S. Pat. No. 9,899,727, issued on Feb. 20, 2018, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/246,491 filed Apr. 7, 2014, which is now U.S. Pat. No. 9,099,773, issued on Aug. 4, 2015, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/614,429 filed Dec. 21, 2006, which is now U.S. Pat. No. 8,738,103, issued on May 27, 2014, which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/831,544 filed Jul. 18, 2006 and U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/856,410 filed Nov. 3, 2006."

Based on this, the related family members and their relationships are:

• US11031677B2 (Current Patent)
  • Continuation of: U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/856,626 (filed Dec. 28, 2017)
    • Continuation of: U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/738,090 (filed Jun. 12, 2015, now U.S. Pat. No. 9,899,727, issued Feb. 20, 2018)
      • Continuation of: U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/246,491 (filed Apr. 7, 2014, now U.S. Pat. No. 9,099,773, issued Aug. 4, 2015)
        • Continuation of: U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/614,429 (filed Dec. 21, 2006, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,738,103, issued May 27, 2014)
          • Claims benefit of: U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/831,544 (filed Jul. 18, 2006)
          • Claims benefit of: U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/856,410 (filed Nov. 3, 2006)

Additionally, the Google Patents record lists other related applications:

• US17/246,192 (priority to 2021-04-30, leading to US11349200B2)
• US17/704,942 (priority to 2022-03-25, leading to US11735810B2)
• US18/339,523 (priority to 2023-06-22, leading to US12095149B2)
• US18/782,669 (priority to 2024-07-24, leading to US20240380098A1)

These latter applications suggest a continuing family of patents and applications related to US11031677, likely through further continuation or divisional filings, extending the protection for related subject matter.

Projected Expiration Date

For utility patents filed on or after June 8, 1995, the patent term is generally 20 years from the filing date of the earliest U.S. non-provisional or PCT application to which priority is claimed. This term can be extended by Patent Term Adjustment (PTA) due to USPTO delays.

The earliest priority date for US11031677B2 is July 18, 2006, from U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/831,544. However, for term calculation, the 20-year period typically starts from the earliest non-provisional application. In this chain, the earliest non-provisional application is U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/614,429, filed on December 21, 2006.

Calculating 20 years from December 21, 2006, would lead to an unadjusted expiration date of December 21, 2026.

Google Patents lists the "Anticipated expiration" date as 2026-12-21. This date aligns with the 20-year term from the earliest non-provisional application in the priority chain, suggesting that either no significant PTA was granted, or any granted PTA was offset by applicant delays or terminal disclaimers, resulting in the original 20-year term from the earliest non-provisional filing date. Without the specific PTA calculation from the USPTO, we rely on the "Anticipated expiration" date provided by Google Patents.