Extensions

An analysis of the prosecution history and publicly available data for U.S. Patent No. 11,120,271 reveals the following information regarding its term, related applications, and family members.

Patent Term Adjustments (PTA) / Patent Term Extensions (PTE)

• Patent Term Adjustment (PTA): There is no record of any Patent Term Adjustment (PTA) granted for this patent. The patent was issued on September 14, 2021, which is less than three years from its filing date of December 10, 2020, suggesting an efficient prosecution that did not accrue significant statutory delays.
• Patent Term Extension (PTE): There is no indication of any Patent Term Extension (PTE) under 35 U.S.C. § 156. PTE is typically associated with products that undergo pre-market regulatory review, such as pharmaceuticals or medical devices, and does not apply to this patent's technology.

Continuity Data (Related U.S. Applications)

U.S. Patent No. 11,120,271 is part of a larger family of applications and claims priority to several earlier-filed patents and applications. This indicates a continuing prosecution strategy by the applicant to protect various aspects of their technology.

The patent is a Continuation of U.S. Patent Application No. 16/795,834 (now U.S. Patent No. 10,769,446), which was filed on February 20, 2020. This, in turn, is a continuation of a chain of applications tracing back to the earliest priority date.

The full domestic priority chain is as follows:

• This application (17/117,356) is a Continuation of:
  • U.S. Application No. 16/795,834 (filed Feb 20, 2020), now U.S. Patent No. 10,769,446
• Which is a Continuation of:
  • U.S. Application No. 16/675,799 (filed Nov 6, 2019), now U.S. Patent No. 10,713,494
• Which is a Continuation-in-part of:
  • U.S. Application No. 15/586,379 (filed May 4, 2017), now U.S. Patent No. 10,521,671
• Which is a Continuation of:
  • U.S. Application No. 14/634,070 (filed Feb 27, 2015), now U.S. Patent No. 9,727,816
• Which claims priority to:
  • U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/946,145 (filed Feb 28, 2014)

Patent Family

The subject patent is also part of a larger international patent family through a PCT application.

• PCT Application: The patent claims priority to International Application No. PCT/US2017/051768, filed on September 15, 2017.
• Foreign Counterparts: This PCT application led to the grant of patents in various other jurisdictions, indicating a broad international filing strategy. Key family members include patents in Europe, Japan, and Canada, among others.

Projected Expiration Date

The term of a U.S. patent is generally 20 years from the filing date of the earliest U.S. or international (PCT) application to which priority is claimed, excluding any provisional applications.

For U.S. Patent No. 11,120,271, the earliest non-provisional filing date in its priority chain is that of U.S. Application No. 14/634,070, which was filed on February 27, 2015.

Therefore, the projected expiration date is calculated as follows:

• Earliest Filing Date: February 27, 2015
• Add 20 Years: + 20 years
• Patent Term Adjustment (PTA): 0 days
• Projected Expiration Date: February 27, 2035

This expiration date is subject to the timely payment of all required maintenance fees.