Extensions

To provide a comprehensive overview of US patent 12433239's patent term, related applications, and projected expiration, I will synthesize information from the patent text and public USPTO data.

Patent Term Adjustments (PTA)

Patent Term Adjustment (PTA) is granted to compensate patent applicants for certain delays caused by the USPTO during the prosecution of a utility or plant patent application. This adjustment extends the patent term beyond the standard 20 years from the filing date. Delays can include the USPTO failing to:

• Issue a first office action within 14 months of filing.
• Respond to applicant replies within 4 months.
• Issue the patent within 4 months after payment of the issue fee.
• Issue the patent within 36 months of the application filing date ("B delay").

The patent text for US12433239 does not explicitly state the number of days of PTA granted. However, the Google Patents information for US12433239 indicates an "Anticipated expiration" date of 2043-12-21. This date is 20 years from the filing date of 2023-12-21, suggesting no significant PTA was applied or that any PTA was offset by applicant delays. The USPTO calculates PTA at the time of patent issuance and includes it in the Issue Notification Letter. Without direct access to the official USPTO patent record or issue notification for US12433239, the precise PTA value cannot be determined.

Patent Term Extensions (PTE)

Patent Term Extension (PTE) is available under the Hatch-Waxman Act (35 U.S.C. § 156) for patents on certain products requiring regulatory approval, such as human drugs, food or color additives, medical devices, animal drugs, and veterinary biological products. This extension aims to restore patent term lost during the premarket government approval process.

Based on the nature of US12433239 as a "Pet toilet," it is highly unlikely to be eligible for Patent Term Extension under 35 U.S.C. § 156, as it does not fall into the categories of products requiring premarket regulatory review by agencies like the FDA. Therefore, no PTE is anticipated for this patent.

Continuation and Divisional Applications

• Continuation Applications: A continuation application is a new application with new claims but shares the same specification, drawings, and priority date as a previously filed "parent" application. It allows applicants to pursue additional claims for the same invention before the parent patent issues or is abandoned.
• Divisional Applications: A divisional application is a separate application claiming a distinct invention disclosed but not claimed in a parent application. They are typically filed in response to a USPTO restriction requirement where an examiner determines that the parent application contains more than one independent and distinct invention. Divisional applications retain the priority date of their parent.

The Google Patents "Family Applications" section for US12433239 lists only US18/392,888 (which corresponds to US12433239B2) as a family member. There are no other listed applications explicitly identified as continuation or divisional applications within the provided patent information. While the patent description mentions that a Chinese patent application (CN2023234197826) was filed on December 14, 2023, and claims priority, this is a foreign priority claim, not a continuation or divisional U.S. application.

Related Family Members

The patent information provided states that US12433239B2 is derived from application number US18/392,888. It also lists US20250194554A1 as another version of the patent, which is likely the published application before grant. The "Applications Claiming Priority" section lists CN202323419782.6U (and CN222236083U) with a priority date of 2023-12-14. This confirms that the US patent claims priority from a Chinese utility model application.

Projected Expiration Date

The standard term for a U.S. utility patent is 20 years from its earliest effective filing date.

• Filing Date: December 21, 2023.
• Publication Date: October 7, 2025.
• Priority Date: December 14, 2023 (Chinese patent application CN2023234197826).

Assuming no Patent Term Adjustments (PTA) or Patent Term Extensions (PTE) that alter the term, and no terminal disclaimers, the projected expiration date would be 20 years from the earliest effective filing date. The provided Google Patents data for US12433239 explicitly states an "Anticipated expiration" date of 2043-12-21. This aligns with 20 years from the U.S. filing date (2023-12-21), indicating that the priority claim to the Chinese application did not shorten the U.S. term and that any PTA was effectively zero or fully offset by applicant delays. The USPTO does not calculate expiration dates for patents but provides tools to help estimate them based on various factors.