Extensions

Patent Term Adjustments (PTA)

Patent Term Adjustment (PTA) is granted to compensate for delays caused by the USPTO during the prosecution of a patent application. The USPTO automatically determines the period of PTA and provides a notice of this determination by the patent's issue date.

Without access to the official USPTO patent record for US12020734 (e.g., Patent Center or PAIR), the exact PTA granted cannot be definitively stated. However, the patent text indicates a filing date of October 4, 2021, and a publication (grant) date of June 25, 2024. This period of approximately 2 years and 8 months (32 months) from filing to grant is less than the 36-month timeframe specified for certain USPTO delays, which could suggest minimal or no PTA in this category. Nonetheless, other types of delays (e.g., issuance of a first office action within 14 months, responses to replies within 4 months, or patent issuance within 4 months after issue fee payment) can also contribute to PTA.

Patent Term Extensions (PTE)

Patent Term Extensions (PTE) are distinct from PTA and are primarily available for patents claiming products that require pre-market regulatory review, such as pharmaceuticals, medical devices, food additives, and color additives. The purpose of PTE is to compensate patentees for the time lost during this regulatory review process.

The subject matter of US12020734, "Multilayer exchange spring recording media," does not fall within the categories of products requiring pre-market regulatory approval (e.g., FDA approval). Therefore, it is highly unlikely that US12020734 would be eligible for any Patent Term Extension.

Continuation Applications

A continuation application is a new patent application that pursues additional claims to an invention already disclosed in an earlier-filed, co-pending "parent" application. The continuation must share the same disclosure as the parent application, without adding new subject matter, and have at least one common inventor. It must be filed before the patenting, abandonment, or termination of proceedings on the parent application.

The provided patent text and family information show the following related family members, which could be continuation applications:

• US17/492,735: This is the application number for US12020734.
• US11/424,859: (US9978413B2) Filed 2006-06-17.
• US12/619,849: (US9928864B2) Filed 2009-11-17.
• US15/925,749: (US11138997B2) Filed 2018-03-19.
• US15/985,661: (US11133031B2) Filed 2018-05-21.
• US17/486,608: (US11908500B2) Filed 2021-09-27.
• US18/503,873: (US20240079030A1) Filed 2023-11-07.

All these applications claim priority from the earliest priority date of 2006-06-17, indicating they are likely continuation or divisional applications stemming from an original application filed on that date. Specifically, US17/492,735 (which resulted in US12020734) claims priority to US17/492,735, which itself has a priority date of 2006-06-17, confirming its lineage within this family.

Divisional Applications

A divisional application arises when the USPTO determines that a single application claims two or more independent and distinct inventions and requires the applicant to restrict the application to one invention. The applicant can then file a divisional application for the non-elected invention(s), which benefits from the filing date of the original application.

As with continuation applications, the numerous family members of US12020734, all sharing the same priority date of 2006-06-17, suggest that divisional applications may exist within this patent family. Without direct access to the prosecution history of each application, it is not possible to definitively identify which specific applications are divisional rather than continuation applications.

Related Family Members

The patent text explicitly lists several related family members, all sharing the priority date of 2006-06-17 and having the title "Multilayer exchange spring recording media":

• US11/424,859 (US9978413B2)
• US12/619,849 (US9928864B2)
• US15/925,749 (US11138997B2)
• US15/985,661 (US11133031B2)
• US17/486,608 (US11908500B2)
• US17/492,735 (US12020734B2 - the patent in question)
• US18/503,873 (US20240079030A1)

These are all applications claiming priority to the same earliest date, forming a single patent family.

Projected Expiration Date

For applications filed on or after June 8, 1995, the term of a patent generally ends 20 years from the date on which the application for the patent was filed in the United States, or, if it claims priority to an earlier application, 20 years from the filing date of the earliest such application.

US12020734 was filed on October 4, 2021 (Application number US17/492,735), but its priority date is June 17, 2006. Therefore, the expiration date is calculated from the earliest priority date.

Expiration Date = Earliest Priority Date + 20 years
Expiration Date = 2006-06-17 + 20 years = 2026-06-17.

This calculation does not account for any Patent Term Adjustment (PTA) that may have been granted. As previously noted, without access to the official USPTO record for US12020734, the exact PTA is unknown. However, the Google Patents information indicates an "Anticipated expiration" date of 2026-06-17, which aligns with the 20-year term from the priority date, suggesting no significant PTA or that any PTA has already been factored into this anticipated date.