Extensions

Patent Term Adjustments (PTA)

Patent Term Adjustment (PTA) refers to extensions granted to the term of a U.S. patent to compensate for certain delays caused by the USPTO during the patent examination process. These delays include failing to issue a first Office action within 14 months of filing, failing to respond to an applicant's reply within four months, or failing to issue a patent within 36 months of the filing date or four months of the issue fee payment. However, applicant-caused delays can reduce any awarded PTA. The USPTO calculates and awards PTA automatically, and the adjusted term is typically printed on the issued patent.

As of the current date, specific PTA information for US patent 11334918 is not available in the provided Google Patents data or the search results. To determine the exact PTA, it would be necessary to consult the official patent document (issued patent) from the USPTO or access detailed prosecution history via USPTO's Patent Center.

Patent Term Extensions (PTE)

Patent Term Extension (PTE) under 35 U.S.C. § 156 is available for patents that claim certain human drug products, medical devices, food or color additives, animal drugs, and veterinary biological products. This extension aims to restore time lost while awaiting premarket government approval from a regulatory agency, such as the FDA. Unlike PTA, PTE is not automatically calculated and is not printed on the patent. Owners must apply for PTE.

Given the nature of US patent 11334918, which describes systems and methods for exchanging identifiers between wireless communication devices for services like e-commerce and social networking, it is highly unlikely to be eligible for PTE, as it does not appear to cover products requiring premarket regulatory approval under 35 U.S.C. § 156.

Continuation and Divisional Applications

• Continuation Applications: A continuation application is a second application for the same invention claimed in a prior non-provisional application and filed before the patenting or abandonment of or termination of proceedings on the first application. Its term ends twenty years from the filing date of the earliest application for which a benefit is claimed. The Google Patents page for US11334918B2 indicates a number of priority claims, suggesting it is a continuation application or has benefited from a chain of such applications.

  • Priority to US15/271,410 (Filing date: 2016-09-21)
  • Priority to US16/817,896 (Priority date: 2020-03-13)
  • Priority to US17/366,826 (Priority date: 2021-07-02)
  • Priority to US17/942,197 (Priority date: 2022-09-12)
  • Priority to US18/204,528 (Priority date: 2023-06-01)
  • Priority to US18/437,306 (Priority date: 2024-02-09)
  • Priority to US19/027,020 (Priority date: 2025-01-17)
  • Priority to US19/027,075 (Priority date: 2025-01-17)

  The patent itself (US11334918B2) explicitly states it is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/861,563, filed Sep. 22, 2015, which is a continuation of further applications, ultimately claiming benefit from U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/095,001, filed on Sep. 8, 2008, and U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/095,359, filed on Sep. 9, 2008.

• Divisional Applications: A divisional application is filed when an original application claims two or more independent and distinct inventions, and the USPTO requires restriction to one. The divisional application can then claim the benefit of the filing date of the original application. There is no information in the provided patent text or Google Patents data that explicitly states US11334918B2 is a divisional application or has divisional applications stemming from it.

Related Family Members

The Google Patents page for US11334918B2 lists several "Other versions," which typically refer to published applications or other family members:

• US20170011425A1 (Publication date: 2017-01-12) This is an earlier publication of an application in the same patent family.

Additionally, the "RELATED APPLICATION(S)" section within the full patent text details the long chain of priority claims, which identifies further family members. US11334918B2 is a continuation of:

• U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/861,563, filed Sep. 22, 2015
• U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/472,477, filed Aug. 29, 2014
• U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/775,435, filed Feb. 25, 2013, now issued as U.S. Pat. No. 8,849,698
• U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/212,723, filed Aug. 18, 2011, now issued as U.S. Pat. No. 8,374,592
• U.S. application Ser. No. 12/364,828, filed Feb. 3, 2009, now issued as U.S. Pat. No. 8,090,359
• U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/095,001, filed on Sep. 8, 2008
• U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/095,359, filed on Sep. 9, 2008

Projected Expiration Date

The "Legal status" section on Google Patents states that US11334918B2 is "Active, expires 2029-04-13".

According to U.S. patent law, the term of a utility patent (other than a design patent) begins on the date the patent issues and generally ends 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 claimed is September 8, 2008, from U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/095,001. However, provisional applications do not count towards the 20-year term calculation; the 20-year term is typically measured from the earliest non-provisional application. The earliest non-provisional application in the chain appears to be U.S. application Ser. No. 12/364,828, filed on February 3, 2009.

Therefore, 20 years from February 3, 2009, would be February 3, 2029. The stated expiration date of April 13, 2029, suggests that there has been a Patent Term Adjustment (PTA) granted, adding approximately 2 months and 10 days to the patent term. Without the specific PTA calculation from the USPTO, this is an inference based on the provided expiration date.