Extensions

Here is an analysis of the prosecution history, patent term, and related applications for US patent 6,434,212.

I. Patent Term Adjustments and Extensions

A review of the patent's file history and legal events data does not indicate any Patent Term Adjustment (PTA) under 35 U.S.C. § 154 or any Patent Term Extension (PTE) under 35 U.S.C. § 156. The patent was issued in August 2002, approximately 19 months after its filing date, a relatively swift prosecution that would not typically accrue significant PTA. As the patent does not cover a product subject to premarket regulatory review (such as a pharmaceutical), it would not be eligible for a PTE.

II. Continuation and Divisional Applications

The '212 patent is part of a chain of related applications filed by the inventor, Nathan Pyles.

• Parent Application: US patent 6,434,212 is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 09/181,738, which was filed on October 28, 1998. This parent application subsequently issued as US Patent 6,175,608 B1. The '212 patent therefore claims priority to this earlier filing date.
• Continuation-in-Part Application: A related child application, U.S. Ser. No. 09/766,893, was filed on January 19, 2001, as a continuation-in-part of the '212 patent's parent application (09/181,738). This application issued as US Patent 6,473,483 B2.

No divisional applications stemming from this patent family are listed in the provided records.

III. Patent Family and Foreign Counterparts

The '212 patent is part of a patent family that includes international filings based on the original U.S. priority application.

• Parent Application:
  • US 6,175,608 B1: Filed 1998-10-28, Issued 2001-01-16. This is the direct parent of the '212 patent.
• Continuation Application:
  • US 6,434,212 B2 (this patent): Filed 2001-01-04, Issued 2002-08-13.
• International (PCT) Application:
  • WO 2000/025090 A1: Filed under the Patent Cooperation Treaty as PCT/US1999/025314 on 1999-10-28, claiming priority to the original 1998 U.S. application. Published 2000-05-04.
• Foreign Counterparts (from PCT national stage entry):
  • AU 14549/00 A: Australian application published 2000-05-15.
  • CN 1329713 A: Chinese application published 2002-01-02.

IV. Projected and Actual Expiration Date

Under U.S. patent law (post-GATT), the term of a patent filed after June 8, 1995, is 20 years from the filing date of the earliest U.S. or international (PCT) application to which priority is claimed.

1. Application Filing Date: January 4, 2001.
2. Earliest Priority Date Claimed: The patent is a continuation of application 09/181,738, which was filed on October 28, 1998.
3. Term Calculation: The 20-year patent term is calculated from this earliest priority date.
   • Start Date: October 28, 1998
   • Expiration Date: October 28, 2018

This projected expiration date is confirmed by the legal status information provided in the patent data, which lists the status as "Expired - Lifetime" with an anticipated expiration of 2018-10-28. The patent term has run its full course and has not been extended. As of today's date (2026-05-11), the patent is expired and its claims are in the public domain.