Extensions

Term and Application History of U.S. Patent 5,978,773

Date of Analysis: April 28, 2026

Here is a detailed breakdown of the term, related applications, and family members for U.S. Patent 5,978,773.

Patent Term Adjustments (PTA) and Extensions (PTE)

• Patent Term Adjustment (PTA): U.S. Patent 5,978,773 was filed on October 3, 1995. The provisions for Patent Term Adjustment were established for applications filed on or after May 29, 2000. Because this patent's application was filed before this date, it is not eligible for PTA.
• Patent Term Extension (PTE): There is no indication from the USPTO's records or other public data that this patent was granted any Patent Term Extension. PTE is typically granted for delays caused by regulatory review (e.g., by the FDA) and is not applicable in this case.

Continuation and Divisional Applications

A review of the patent's file history and continuity data reveals the following related applications that claim priority to or are derived from the application for U.S. Patent 5,978,773 (Application No. 08/538,365):

• Divisional Application:

  • Application Number: 09/232,908
  • Filing Date: January 15, 1999
  • Status: This divisional application issued as U.S. Patent 6,199,048 on March 6, 2001.

• Continuation Applications: The patent family includes a series of continuation applications that build upon the original filing:

  • Application Number: 10/768,991 (Continuation of 09/232,908)
    • Filing Date: January 29, 2004
    • Status: Issued as U.S. Patent 7,383,209 on June 3, 2008.
  • Application Number: 11/765,887 (Continuation of 10/768,991)
    • Filing Date: June 20, 2007
    • Status: Issued as U.S. Patent 7,765,126 on July 27, 2010.
  • Application Number: 12/827,814 (Continuation of 11/765,887)
    • Filing Date: June 30, 2010
    • Status: Issued as U.S. Patent 8,131,597 on March 6, 2012.
  • Application Number: 13/323,931 (Continuation of 12/827,814)
    • Filing Date: December 13, 2011
    • Status: Issued as U.S. Patent 8,805,728 on August 12, 2014.
  • Application Number: 14/456,635 (Continuation of 13/323,931)
    • Filing Date: August 11, 2014
    • Status: This application was published as US 2014/0361071 A1 but was subsequently abandoned.

Patent Family Members

In addition to the U.S. continuation and divisional patents, U.S. Patent 5,978,773 is part of a larger international patent family, claiming priority from the initial U.S. application. A patent family consists of a set of patents filed in various countries to protect the same invention. Key international family members include:

• Australia: AU6388496A
• Canada: CA2225302A1
• European Patent: EP0832453A1
• WIPO (PCT): WO1997001137A1

Projected Expiration Date

The term of a U.S. patent filed before June 8, 1995, was 17 years from the issue date or 20 years from the filing date, whichever was longer. For patents filed on or after June 8, 1995, the term is 20 years from the earliest effective filing date.

• Filing Date: October 3, 1995.
• Priority Date: The application claims priority from a provisional application filed on June 20, 1995. However, for calculating the 20-year term, the non-provisional filing date is used.
• Calculation: 20 years from the filing date of October 3, 1995.

Based on this calculation, the projected expiration date for U.S. Patent 5,978,773 was October 3, 2015. The patent has since expired and its technology is now in the public domain. The subsequent patents in the family, being continuations, share the same priority date and have also expired.