Extensions

This analysis focuses on U.S. Patent No. 6,628,629, specifically examining its patent term adjustments, extensions, continuation applications, divisional applications, related family members, and projected expiration date.

Patent Term Adjustments (PTA) and Patent Term Extensions (PTE)

• Patent Term Adjustment (PTA): PTA is granted to compensate applicants for delays caused by the USPTO during patent prosecution. It extends the patent term beyond the standard 20 years from the earliest filing date.
• Patent Term Extension (PTE): PTE is awarded to compensate for delays incurred in obtaining regulatory approval for patented products or methods, primarily for drugs requiring FDA review.

To definitively determine if US Patent 6,628,629 received any PTA or PTE, one would typically need to consult the patent's file wrapper directly through the USPTO Patent Center or Patent Public Search. However, the initial patent summary states that the patent is "Expired - Lifetime". Given that the patent was filed on July 9, 1999, and issued on September 30, 2003, and the standard patent term for applications filed after June 8, 1995, is 20 years from the earliest filing date, the anticipated expiration date would be July 9, 2019. Any PTA or PTE would extend this date. Without direct access to the USPTO file wrapper for this specific patent to check for A-delays, B-delays, and C-delays, the exact amount of PTA or PTE cannot be calculated definitively. However, PTE is generally applicable to patents covering products subject to regulatory approval, which is typically not the case for a telecommunications method patent.

Continuation and Divisional Applications

• Continuation Applications: These are subsequent applications filed during the pendency of an earlier non-provisional application, claiming priority to it and disclosing the same invention, but with different claims.
• Divisional Applications: These are a type of continuing application filed when the USPTO requires restriction of claims to multiple inventions in an earlier application. They disclose and claim only an invention(s) from the prior application that was not elected for examination.

To identify any continuation or divisional applications for US 6,628,629, one would typically look at the "Related U.S. Patent Documents" section on the face of the issued patent. This section lists related U.S. patent applications. Without direct access to this specific section of the patent document, a definitive list cannot be provided.

Related Family Members

A patent family includes a collection of patent documents that cover the same invention and share at least one common inventor, often linked by priority claims. This can include international filings (e.g., PCT applications, foreign patents). The patent history shows that US 6,628,629 claims priority to AU59200/00A, PCT/US2000/018666, KR1020027000350A, HK02107539.1A, KR1020077003032A, EP07101009.4A, EP07100998A, AU60746/00A, EP07101014.4A, PCT/US2000/018531, PCT/US2000/018584, EP07100992.2A, AU59201/00A, JP2001510192A, KR1020087028079A, EP00947079A, PCT/US2000/018585, EP07101001A, AT00947079T, and AU60784/00A. These are indeed related family members.

Projected Expiration Date

The patent was filed on July 9, 1999. For utility patents issued from applications filed on or after June 8, 1995, the patent term is generally 20 years from the earliest filing date. Therefore, without any PTA or PTE, US Patent 6,628,629 would have expired on July 9, 2019. The previously generated patent summary states that the patent's legal status is "Expired - Lifetime," which aligns with this calculation. Since the current date is April 26, 2026, the patent has already expired.