Extensions

To fully detail patent term adjustments (PTA), patent term extensions (PTE), continuation/divisional applications, related family members, and the precise projected expiration date for US Patent 7579227, direct access to the USPTO's Patent Center or Public Patent Search system is typically required. While general information about these concepts is available, specific data for a given patent is held within its official file wrapper. The USPTO does not publicly calculate patent expiration dates directly, but provides tools and guidance for doing so.

Based on the available information and general patent law:

Patent Term Adjustments (PTA):
Patent Term Adjustment (PTA) is granted to utility and plant patents to compensate for certain delays by the USPTO during prosecution. These delays include failing to:

• Issue a first office action within 14 months of filing.
• Respond to an applicant's reply or appeal within four months.
• Act on an application within four months after a Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) or federal court decision.
• Issue a patent within four months after payment of the issue fee.
• Issue a patent within 36 months from the filing date (excluding applicant-caused delays).

The abstract of US7579227 indicates it is a utility patent, making it eligible for PTA. To determine the exact PTA for US7579227, one would need to review the "Issue Notification" sent by the USPTO, which includes the calculated adjustment. This information would be found in the patent's file history on Patent Center.

Patent Term Extensions (PTE):
Patent Term Extensions (PTE) are available for patents claiming certain human drug products, medical devices, animal drugs, or food/color additives to compensate for time lost during premarket regulatory review. Given that US7579227 pertains to a semiconductor device, it is highly unlikely to have received any Patent Term Extensions under 35 U.S.C. § 156, as these are typically related to regulatory approval processes for specific products.

Continuation and Divisional Applications:

• A continuation application is filed for an invention disclosed in a prior, co-pending non-provisional application, without introducing new subject matter.
• A divisional application is filed for a distinct and independent invention carved out of a prior, co-pending application.

The Google Patents page for US7579227 lists "US11/491,260" as the application number and "US20070032007A1" as "Other versions". The "Priority date" is 2005-08-05. The application number US11/491,260 corresponds to the original filing date of July 24, 2006.

The "Priority to US12/505,799" on 2009-07-20 and "Priority to US13/037,831" on 2011-03-01, and "Priority to US13/547,913" on 2012-07-12 suggest related applications, which could be continuations, divisionals, or continuations-in-part, claiming priority back to the original application associated with US7579227. To confirm the exact relationship (continuation, divisional, or continuation-in-part) and their impact on the patent family, the full file history of US7579227 and the listed priority applications would need to be examined on the USPTO's Patent Center.

Related Family Members:
The "Other versions" and "Priority to" information provided by Google Patents are strong indicators of related family members.

• US20070032007A1: This is likely the publication of the application that led to US7579227.
• US12/505,799, US13/037,831, US13/547,913: These are application numbers for patents that claim priority from an earlier application (potentially US7579227's underlying application or a common parent). Specifically, "Priority to US12/505,799" and "patent/US7923764B2/en" suggests that US12/505,799 resulted in US Patent 7,923,764. Similarly, "Priority to US13/037,831" and "patent/US8253180B2/en" points to US Patent 8,253,180. Lastly, "Priority to US13/547,913" and "patent/US8587076B2/en" indicates US Patent 8,587,076. These are likely continuations, divisionals, or continuations-in-part of the same patent family.

Projected Expiration Date:
The basic patent term for applications filed on or after June 8, 1995, is 20 years from the earliest filing date of the application or the earliest application in a chain of priority claims.

The "Filing date" of US7579227 is July 24, 2006. The "Priority date" is August 5, 2005. The "Prior art date" is also August 5, 2005. Since the patent claims priority to an earlier date (August 5, 2005), the 20-year term would typically be calculated from this earliest priority date.

Therefore, the nominal expiration date (without any adjustments or extensions) would be August 5, 2005 + 20 years = August 5, 2025.

However, the Google Patents information explicitly states the "Legal status" as "Active, expires 2027-03-27". This indicates that there has been a patent term adjustment (PTA). The difference between August 5, 2025, and March 27, 2027, is approximately 1 year and 7 months. This adjustment would be due to delays caused by the USPTO during the prosecution of the patent application.

Projected Expiration Date: March 27, 2027.