Extensions

Term, Adjustments, and Related Applications for US Patent 5,768,384

Patent Term: The patent has expired and is no longer in force.

Projected Expiration Date: The original projected expiration date for US patent 5,768,384 would have been March 28, 2016, which is 20 years from its filing date of March 28, 1996.

Actual Expiration: The patent expired prematurely on June 16, 2010, due to the patent holder's failure to pay the required maintenance fees. The "Legal Events" section of the patent record explicitly states, "Lapsed due to failure to pay maintenance fee" with an effective date of 2010-06-16.

Under U.S. patent law, maintenance fees are due at 3.5, 7.5, and 11.5 years after the patent's issue date to keep it in force. Failure to pay these fees within the specified period, including a six-month grace period, results in the patent's expiration. The record indicates that the 12-year maintenance fee, due by December 16, 2009 (11.5 years after the June 16, 1998 grant date), was not paid. The grace period ended on June 16, 2010, at which point the patent lapsed.

Patent Term Adjustments (PTA) / Extensions (PTE):

• PTA: No Patent Term Adjustment was granted for this patent. The provisions for PTA were established by the American Inventors Protection Act of 1999 and generally apply to applications filed on or after May 29, 2000. Since this patent was filed in 1996, it was not eligible for this type of adjustment.
• PTE: There is no record of any Patent Term Extension under 35 U.S.C. § 156. Such extensions are typically granted to compensate for regulatory review delays (e.g., by the FDA) and are not applicable in this case.

Continuity and Family Data:

• Continuation or Divisional Applications: A review of the patent's file history indicates that US patent 5,768,384 is not a continuation or a divisional of any prior application. It is an original utility application.
• Related Family Members: The application for this patent, US 08/623,078, stands alone. There are no other US or international patents that claim priority to this application, meaning it does not have any direct patent family members.