Patent 11573939

Extensions

Patent term adjustments, term extensions, continuations, divisionals, family members, and expiration dates.

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Extensions

Patent term adjustments, term extensions, continuations, divisionals, family members, and expiration dates.

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Based on a technical analysis of U.S. Patent 11,573,939, sourced from the provided patent text and its metadata, here are the details regarding its prosecution history and term.

Patent Term and Expiration

  • Projected Expiration Date: The projected expiration date for this patent is August 11, 2026.

  • Term Calculation: A standard U.S. patent term is 20 years from the earliest effective non-provisional filing date. In this case, the patent is part of a family that includes an international application, PCT/AU2006/001151, which was filed on August 11, 2006. The 20-year term is calculated from this date, resulting in the 2026 expiration.

  • Patent Term Adjustment (PTA) / Extension (PTE): The provided documentation from Google Patents does not specify any Patent Term Adjustment (PTA) or Patent Term Extension (PTE). The alignment of the projected expiration date with the 20-year anniversary of the PCT filing date suggests that no PTA has been applied, or if it was, it was nullified by other factors such as a terminal disclaimer. Detailed PTA calculations would be available in the official file wrapper on the USPTO's Patent Center portal.

  • Note on Validity: It is critical to note that while the patent is formally listed as "Active" and has a projected expiration date, the previous litigation summary indicates that the asserted claims were found to be invalid by the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) and that this decision was affirmed by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. A patent with invalidated claims is generally unenforceable, regardless of its formal status or expiration date.

Continuity and Family Members

This patent is a continuation of a long series of prior applications, giving it an early priority date.

  • Continuation Applications: The "CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS" section of the patent description details a direct lineage of continuation applications. US Patent 11,573,939 (from application Ser. No. 16/539,501) is a continuation of:

    • U.S. application Ser. No. 16/226,109 (filed Dec. 19, 2018)
    • U.S. application Ser. No. 15/791,992 (filed Oct. 24, 2017)
    • U.S. application Ser. No. 15/232,511 (filed Aug. 9, 2016), now U.S. Pat. No. 9,836,489
    • U.S. application Ser. No. 14/627,914 (filed Feb. 20, 2015), now U.S. Pat. No. 9,436,354
    • U.S. application Ser. No. 14/166,465 (filed Jan. 28, 2014), now U.S. Pat. No. 8,996,579
    • U.S. application Ser. No. 13/736,548 (filed Jan. 8, 2013), now U.S. Pat. No. 8,676,852
    • U.S. application Ser. No. 13/349,204 (filed Jan. 12, 2012), now U.S. Pat. No. 8,375,058
    • U.S. application Ser. No. 11/990,338 (filed Aug. 26, 2009), now U.S. Pat. No. 8,140,560
    • This chain claims priority from International Application No. PCT/AU2006/001151 (filed Aug. 11, 2006), which in turn claims priority to Australian Provisional Application No. 2005904378 (filed Aug. 12, 2005).

  • Divisional Applications: The provided patent information does not list any divisional applications related to this patent or its direct predecessors.

  • Related Family Members: This patent is part of a large international patent family. According to the "Family Applications" section of the provided information, related U.S. patents and applications include:

    Many of the earlier patents in this family are now listed as "Expired - Fee Related". The family also includes patents and applications in other countries, including Australia (AU), Canada (CA), China (CN), Europe (EP), Israel (IL), Japan (JP), New Zealand (NZ), and via the World Intellectual Property Organization (WO).

Generated 5/13/2026, 12:18:21 AM