Extensions

To provide a comprehensive answer regarding patent term adjustments (PTA), patent term extensions (PTE), continuation/divisional applications, related family members, and the projected expiration date for US Patent 11582343, I will leverage the information from the Google Patents listing and the USPTO's public data resources.

The USPTO does not directly calculate patent expiration dates for the public but provides tools and guidance for estimation. Patent term is generally 20 years from the earliest filing date of the application, with potential adjustments.

Patent Term Adjustment (PTA)

Patent Term Adjustment (PTA) adds time to the patent term to compensate for certain delays caused by the USPTO during the prosecution of a utility or plant patent application. These delays include:

• "A delay": USPTO failing to issue an office action within 14 months, respond to an applicant's reply within 4 months, or issue a patent within 4 months of the issue fee payment.
• "B delay": The application being pending for more than three years.
• "C delay": Delays due to interference, secrecy orders, or successful appellate review.

Applicant-caused delays can reduce PTA.

The Google Patents page for US11582343 does not explicitly state the PTA awarded. To determine the exact PTA, one would typically need to examine the Issue Notification Letter or the patent's file wrapper on the USPTO Patent Center.

Patent Term Extension (PTE)

Patent Term Extension (PTE) is available for patents claiming certain human drug products, medical device products, animal drug products, and food or color additive products. It compensates for time lost while awaiting premarket government approval from a regulatory agency like the FDA.

Based on the title and abstract ("Devices and methods for multipath communications"), US Patent 11582343 does not appear to cover subject matter eligible for Patent Term Extension under 35 U.S.C. § 156, as it is not related to a product requiring regulatory approval like drugs or medical devices. Therefore, it is highly unlikely that US11582343 has received or is eligible for any PTE.

Continuation Applications, Divisional Applications, and Related Family Members

The patent text explicitly states: "This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 17/120,549 filed on Dec. 14, 2020, soon to be patented as U.S. Pat. No. 11,418,641, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/161,787 filed May 23, 2016, now patented as U.S. Pat. No. 10,868,908, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/512,414 filed Oct. 11, 2014, now patented as U.S. Pat. No. 9,350,649, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/531,294 filed Jun. 12, 2012, now patented as U.S. Pat. No. 8,861,349, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/581,852 filed Oct. 19, 2009, now patented as U.S. Pat. No. 8,228,801, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/686,375 filed Oct. 14, 2003, now patented as U.S. Pat. No. 7,606,156, which claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/418,521, filed Oct. 15, 2002, all of which are incorporated by reference herein."

This chain of applications indicates that US11582343 is part of a large patent family, specifically a series of continuation applications. A continuation application is a follow-up application that shares the same specification as its parent but typically claims a different invention, and it must be filed while the parent application is still pending.

The related family members, based on the provided text, are:

• U.S. Pat. No. 11,418,641 (from Ser. No. 17/120,549)
• U.S. Pat. No. 10,868,908 (from Ser. No. 15/161,787)
• U.S. Pat. No. 9,350,649 (from Ser. No. 14/512,414)
• U.S. Pat. No. 8,861,349 (from Ser. No. 13/531,294)
• U.S. Pat. No. 8,228,801 (from Ser. No. 12/581,852)
• U.S. Pat. No. 7,606,156 (from Ser. No. 10/686,375)
• U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/418,521

The patent text does not mention any divisional applications. Divisional applications result from an original application that claimed more than one invention, where the applicant chose to pursue separate inventions in separate applications.

It is also worth noting that as of March 16, 2026, application number 90/016,048, identified as a "Re-Examination" application for US11582343, was filed and its status is "Reexam Preprocessing Completed -- Released to Assigned GAU" as of March 20, 2026. This indicates that the patent is currently undergoing re-examination by the USPTO.

Projected Expiration Date

A U.S. utility patent filed on or after June 8, 1995, expires 20 years from its earliest effective filing date, which includes the filing date of any earlier application to which it claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §§ 120, 121, or 365(c).

US11582343 claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/418,521, filed on October 15, 2002. This is the earliest effective filing date for the patent family.

Therefore, the base patent term of 20 years for US11582343 would extend from October 15, 2002.

Base expiration date: October 15, 2002 + 20 years = October 15, 2022.

However, the Google Patents entry for US11582343 shows a "Publication date" of 2023-02-14 and an "Anticipated expiration" of 2023-10-14. It also lists the "Legal status" as "Expired - Lifetime". This immediately contradicts the 20-year term from the priority date. The contradiction might be due to a terminal disclaimer or the patent's effective filing date being tied to a different application within the family that has a later filing date, or a complex PTA calculation.

Given the information that the "Anticipated expiration" was October 14, 2023, and the current legal status is "Expired - Lifetime", it strongly suggests that the patent has already expired. The USPTO's statement that it "does not calculate expiration dates for patents" means that the "Anticipated expiration" on Google Patents is an estimate.

Without accessing the full patent file wrapper to check for any terminal disclaimers (which can shorten a patent term) or precise PTA calculations, it's difficult to pinpoint the exact reason for the 2023-10-14 expiration date. However, the legal status explicitly states "Expired - Lifetime", indicating the patent is no longer in force.

In summary:

• Patent Term Adjustment (PTA): Not explicitly stated on Google Patents. Requires access to USPTO file wrapper for precise details.
• Patent Term Extension (PTE): Highly unlikely, as the patent does not cover eligible subject matter (e.g., pharmaceuticals).
• Continuation Applications: US11582343 is explicitly stated as a continuation in a long chain of applications, ultimately tracing back to U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/418,521, filed October 15, 2002.
• Divisional Applications: No divisional applications are mentioned in the provided text.
• Related Family Members: U.S. Pat. No. 11,418,641, U.S. Pat. No. 10,868,908, U.S. Pat. No. 9,350,649, U.S. Pat. No. 8,861,349, U.S. Pat. No. 8,228,801, U.S. Pat. No. 7,606,156, and U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/418,521.
• Projected Expiration Date: The "Anticipated expiration" listed on Google Patents was October 14, 2023, and the current legal status is "Expired - Lifetime". This indicates the patent has already expired.