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Analysis of Patent Term, Adjustments, and Family for U.S. Patent 7,383,209

As of April 28, 2026, the following details pertain to the patent term and application history of U.S. Patent 7,383,209.

Patent Term and Expiration

• Earliest Filing Date: The term of a U.S. patent is generally 20 years from the earliest effective non-provisional filing date. The '209 patent is part of a chain of applications that claim priority back to a provisional application filed on June 20, 1995, and a non-provisional application (Ser. No. 08/538,365) filed on October 3, 1995. However, the application that issued as the '209 patent (Ser. No. 10/768,991) was filed on January 29, 2004, as a continuation of a prior application. According to the patent data, the effective filing date for calculating the 20-year term is the filing date of the original non-provisional application.
• Patent Term Adjustment (PTA) / Extension (PTE): A detailed review of the USPTO's records for U.S. Patent 7,383,209 indicates there were no Patent Term Adjustments or Extensions granted.
• Status and Projected Expiration: The patent's legal status is listed as "Expired - Fee Related," with an expiration date of February 9, 2017. This indicates that the patent expired prematurely due to the non-payment of required maintenance fees. Had the maintenance fees been paid, the patent's term would have been calculated based on its complex prosecution history, but its enforceability ceased on the date it expired for failure to pay fees.

Continuity and Family Data

The application for the '209 patent is part of a large family of related applications, including continuations and a divisional application, all stemming from the same original invention.

• Application History for '209 Patent:

  • Application Number: 10/768,991
  • Filing Date: January 29, 2004
  • Application Type: Continuation

• Parent Applications: This application is a continuation that claims priority to a chain of earlier applications. The direct parent is application Ser. No. 09/633,932 (filed August 8, 2000, now abandoned), which was a continuation of Ser. No. 09/232,908 (filed January 15, 1999, now U.S. Patent 6,199,048), which was a divisional of Ser. No. 08/538,365 (filed October 3, 1995, now U.S. Patent 5,978,773).

• Child Applications (Continuations): Several continuation applications were filed that claim priority to the '209 patent or its predecessors, extending the patent family. These include:

  • U.S. Patent 7,765,126: Filed from application Ser. No. 11/765,887 on June 20, 2007.
  • U.S. Patent 8,131,597: Filed from application Ser. No. 12/827,814 on June 30, 2010.
  • U.S. Patent 8,805,728: Filed from application Ser. No. 13/323,931 on December 13, 2011.
  • U.S. Publication 2014/0361071 A1: Filed from application Ser. No. 14/456,635 on August 11, 2014.

• Related Family Members: The complete patent family originating from the initial 1995 application is extensive. Key issued U.S. patents in this family include:

  • U.S. Patent 5,978,773
  • U.S. Patent 6,199,048
  • U.S. Patent 7,765,126
  • U.S. Patent 8,131,597
  • U.S. Patent 8,805,728