Extensions

To provide a comprehensive analysis for US Patent 11,778,415, I will retrieve information regarding its patent term adjustments (PTA), patent term extensions (PTE), continuation/divisional applications, related family members, and projected expiration date.

US Patent 11,778,415: Location sharing application in association with services provision

• Filing Date: May 4, 2022
• Issue Date: October 3, 2023
• Original Assignee: XONE Inc.
• Inventor: Richard D. Haney

1. Patent Term Adjustment (PTA)

Patent Term Adjustment (PTA) is granted to compensate for delays caused by the USPTO during the prosecution of a utility or plant patent application. The USPTO automatically determines the PTA period and transmits a notice of this determination no later than the patent's issue date.

To determine the specific PTA for US Patent 11,778,415, the Issue Notification Letter would need to be reviewed, as the PTA calculation is performed at the time of issuance and included in that letter. Without access to this specific document or a direct USPTO database entry showing the PTA for this patent, the exact adjustment cannot be stated. However, the factors that contribute to PTA include:

• Failure of the USPTO to issue a first Office Action or notice of allowance within 14 months of the application filing.
• Failure of the USPTO to respond to a reply or an appeal within four months.
• Failure of the USPTO to act on an application within four months after a decision by the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) or a federal court.
• Failure of the USPTO to issue a patent within four months after payment of the issue fee.
• Failure of the USPTO to issue a patent within three years from the actual filing date of the application.

Applicant delays can reduce any granted PTA.

2. Patent Term Extension (PTE)

Patent Term Extension (PTE) is available under the Hatch-Waxman Act (35 U.S.C. § 156) to compensate patent holders for time lost during regulatory review by agencies like the FDA, particularly for products such as human and veterinary pharmaceuticals, food additives, color additives, and medical devices.

US Patent 11,778,415 is titled "Location sharing application in association with services provision," which describes a software-based system. This type of invention typically does not involve regulatory review by agencies like the FDA for commercial marketing, and therefore, it is highly unlikely to be eligible for Patent Term Extension under 35 U.S.C. § 156.

3. Continuation Applications

The patent text explicitly lists other versions: US20220312146A1. This is a patent application publication, not a granted patent. A continuation application is filed while an earlier application is still pending and claims the same invention.

4. Divisional Applications

The patent text indicates a "Priority to US17/736,377" and "Priority to US18/453,101" [cite: "Priority to US17/736,377", "Priority to US18/453,101"].
US Patent 11,778,415 is based on application number US17/736,377. The other priority claim, US18/453,101, refers to US11968590B2. This indicates that US11778415 is part of a patent family.

A divisional application typically arises when an examiner determines that a patent application contains more than one independent and distinct invention and issues a restriction requirement, forcing the applicant to choose one invention for examination. The applicant can then file a divisional application for the non-elected inventions, which benefits from the filing date of the original application. Without direct access to the prosecution history of US11778415, it cannot be definitively stated whether US17/736,377 or US18/453,101 were filed as divisional applications; however, the patent lists them as priority claims, which is consistent with family relationships.

5. Related Family Members

Based on the information provided, the related family members include:

• US20220312146A1: This is a patent application publication, which is an earlier publication of the invention. [cite: "US20220312146A1"]
• US11968590B2: This patent is related via priority claim to US18/453,101. [cite: "patent/US11968590B2/en"]

These are identified as related due to priority claims or being other versions of the patent filing. [cite: "Other versions US20220312146A1", "Priority to US18/453,101"]

6. Projected Expiration Date

For applications filed on or after June 8, 1995, the term of a utility patent is generally 20 years from the date on which the application for the patent was filed, or 20 years from the filing date of the earliest application if it claims priority to an earlier-filed application under 35 U.S.C. §§ 120, 121, 365(c), or 386(c).

The filing date for US11778415 is May 4, 2022. The earliest priority date listed in the patent is April 4, 2005. [cite: "Priority date 2005-04-04"]

Therefore, the statutory patent term is generally 20 years from the earliest priority date.
20 years from April 4, 2005, would be April 4, 2025.

The Google Patents information lists the "Anticipated expiration" as April 4, 2025, and the "Legal status" as "Expired - Lifetime". [cite: "Anticipated expiration 2025-04-04", "Status Expired - Lifetime Current"]

Given the priority date of April 4, 2005, and a standard 20-year patent term, the patent would have expired on April 4, 2025. This aligns with the "Anticipated expiration" and "Expired - Lifetime" status provided by Google Patents. Any Patent Term Adjustment (PTA) would be added to this 20-year term. However, the legal status explicitly states "Expired - Lifetime", suggesting that any PTA that may have been granted did not extend the effective patent term beyond the noted expiration.

Without specific PTA calculations from the USPTO, the precise adjusted expiration date cannot be definitively calculated, but based on the provided data, the patent is indicated to have expired on April 4, 2025.