Extensions

Patent Term Adjustments (PTA)

Patent Term Adjustment (PTA) adds time to the 20-year patent term to compensate for certain administrative delays by the USPTO during prosecution of a utility or plant patent application. These delays can include failing to issue a first Office Action or Notice of Allowance within 14 months of the filing date, failing to respond to an applicant's reply within 4 months, or failing to issue the patent within 4 months of the issue fee payment. However, any accrued PTA can be reduced by applicant-caused delays.

For US patent 12230394, the Google Patents page indicates a "Prior art date" of August 5, 2011, and a "Filing date" of May 19, 2023. The "Publication date" is February 18, 2025, and the "Publication number" is US12230394B2, with an "Application number" of US18/320,937. Since the patent was filed after May 29, 2000, it is eligible for PTA. Without direct access to the USPTO's Patent Center or the patent's Issue Notification Letter, the specific PTA amount cannot be determined. The USPTO does not calculate expiration dates for patents, but provides a calculator that considers PTA.

Patent Term Extensions (PTE)

Patent Term Extension (PTE) is available under the Hatch-Waxman Act for patents claiming products (such as human drugs, medical devices, food additives, and color additives) that require regulatory approval from agencies like the FDA prior to commercial sale. PTE aims to restore a portion of the patent term lost during this regulatory review period, with a maximum extension of five years, and the total extended term cannot exceed 14 years from the date of product approval.

Given the nature of US12230394, which relates to "Barcode generation and implementation method and system for processing information" particularly in the context of exercise, health, and gaming, it is unlikely to be eligible for a Patent Term Extension under 35 U.S.C. § 156, as its claims do not appear to cover products requiring premarket government approval from a regulatory agency like the FDA.

Continuation Applications, Divisional Applications, and Related Family Members

A "continuing patent application" claims priority to an earlier-filed patent application and can be a continuation, divisional, or continuation-in-part (CIP).

• A continuation application pursues additional claims to an invention disclosed in an earlier, still-pending application, using the same specification.
• A divisional application is "carved out of an earlier-filed patent application" when the parent application claims more than one independent invention, typically due to a restriction requirement from an examiner. Divisional applications retain the parent's filing date.

The Google Patents page for US12230394 lists "US20240096487A1" as "Other versions" and notes a "Publication of US20240096487A1" on March 21, 2024. This indicates a published application related to US12230394. To definitively identify it as a continuation or divisional, a detailed review of the "Related U.S. Application Data" section of the patent or its prosecution history on USPTO Patent Center would be necessary. The application number for US12230394 is US18/320,937.

Projected Expiration Date

The general rule for U.S. utility patents filed on or after June 8, 1995, is that they expire 20 years from the earliest filing date of the application. If the patent claims priority to an earlier application, the 20-year term starts from the filing date of that earliest application.

US Patent 12230394 has a "Priority date" of August 5, 2011, and a "Filing date" of May 19, 2023. The "Legal status" on Google Patents states, "Active, expires 2032-09-18." [cite: The Google Patents page for US12230394B2 lists "Active , expires 2032-09-18".]

Therefore, the projected expiration date is September 18, 2032. This date accounts for the 20-year term from the priority date of August 5, 2011, plus any patent term adjustments. The Google Patents page specifically states the adjusted expiration date. [cite: The Google Patents page for US12230394B2 lists "Adjusted expiration 2032-09-18".]