Extensions

Term, Adjustment, and Family Data for U.S. Patent 11,677,798 B2

Patent Term

• Issue Date: June 13, 2023
• Application Filing Date: October 7, 2022
• Governing Term: The patent term is 20 years from the earliest non-provisional filing date. The application for this patent (17/962,231) is a continuation of a long chain of applications.
• Earliest Priority Date: The patent claims priority back to U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/566,831, filed on April 30, 2004. However, the 20-year term is calculated from the filing date of the earliest non-provisional application in the chain, which is U.S. Application No. 11/116,783, filed on April 28, 2005.

Patent Term Adjustment (PTA) / Extension (PTE)

A detailed review of the patent's file history on the USPTO's Patent Center portal reveals the following:

• Patent Term Adjustment (PTA): There has been no Patent Term Adjustment granted for this patent. The patent was issued well within the three-year period from its own filing date, and as a continuation, much of the examination delay would have been accounted for in the parent applications.
• Patent Term Extension (PTE): There is no indication that a Patent Term Extension under 35 U.S.C. § 156 (often for regulatory review delays, e.g., by the FDA) has been sought or granted for this patent.

Projected Expiration Date

The standard 20-year term is calculated from the earliest non-provisional application filing date of April 28, 2005.

• Calculated Expiration Date: April 28, 2025.

The "Legal Status" on Google Patents, which lists "Expired - Lifetime," appears to be an error, as the patent's term should run until April 2025 based on its priority claim to the 2005 application. The "Anticipated expiration" date of April 28, 2025, also listed on that page, is consistent with this calculation.

Continuity and Patent Family

U.S. Patent 11,677,798 B2 is part of a large family of patents and applications stemming from the original 2005 non-provisional application. It is a continuation of U.S. Application No. 16/876,579 (now U.S. Patent No. 11,470,138).

The full continuity chain is as follows:

• This Patent: U.S. Patent No. 11,677,798 (Application No. 17/962,231), filed October 7, 2022.
  • Which is a continuation of: U.S. Patent No. 11,470,138 (Application No. 16/876,579), filed May 18, 2020.
    • Which is a continuation of: U.S. Patent No. 10,659,513 (Application No. 16/004,056), filed June 8, 2018.
      • Which is a continuation of: U.S. Patent No. 9,998,516 (Application No. 15/414,025), filed January 24, 2017.
        • Which is a continuation of: U.S. Patent No. 9,571,551 (Application No. 14/719,122), filed May 21, 2015.
          • Which is a continuation of: U.S. Patent No. 9,071,668 (Application No. 14/106,051), filed December 13, 2013.
            • Which is a continuation of: U.S. Patent No. 8,612,624 (Application No. 13/617,114), filed September 14, 2012.
              • Which is a continuation of: U.S. Patent No. 8,402,156 (Application No. 12/906,940), filed October 18, 2010.
                • Which is a continuation of: U.S. Patent No. 7,818,444 (Application No. 11/673,483), filed February 9, 2007.
                  • Which is a continuation-in-part of: U.S. Patent No. 8,868,772 (Application No. 11/116,783), filed April 28, 2005.
                    • Which claims the benefit of: U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/566,831, filed April 30, 2004.

This extensive chain of continuation applications has allowed the assignee, DISH Technologies L.L.C., to pursue and obtain numerous patents with claims of varying scope, all relying on the original 2004/2005 priority disclosures. The '798 patent is one of the most recent patents to issue from this family.