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Analysis of Patent Term, Adjustments, and Family for US Patent 7,765,126

As of April 28, 2026, an analysis of the prosecution history and legal status of US Patent 7,765,126 reveals the following details regarding its term, related applications, and patent family.

Application and Priority Dates:

• Application Number: 11/765,887
• Filing Date: June 20, 2007
• Priority Date: The patent claims priority to a series of earlier applications, with the earliest non-provisional filing date being October 3, 1995, based on application Ser. No. 08/538,365 (now US Patent 5,978,773). This 1995 date is critical for determining the patent's expiration.

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

A review of the patent's file history indicates that there were no Patent Term Adjustments (PTA) or Patent Term Extensions (PTE) granted for US Patent 7,765,126. PTA is typically granted to compensate for delays caused by the USPTO during prosecution. In this case, no such statutory adjustments were awarded.

Continuations and Divisional Applications:

US Patent 7,765,126 is part of a larger family of patents and applications stemming from the original 1995 application. This specific patent is a continuation of a prior application.

• Parent Application: The application for US 7,765,126 (Ser. No. 11/765,887) is a continuation of application Ser. No. 10/768,991 (filed January 29, 2004, now US Patent 7,383,209).
• Continuation Applications: A continuation application is filed to pursue additional claims related to the invention disclosed in a parent application while maintaining the parent's priority date. This patent family utilized a "daisy-chain" of continuation applications to prosecute different sets of claims over time.
• Divisional Applications: The '126 patent itself is not a divisional application, but its predecessor, US Patent 6,199,048, was a divisional of the original 1995 application. A divisional application is typically filed when the USPTO determines that a parent application contains more than one distinct invention.

Related Family Members:

The '126 patent is a member of a large patent family, all claiming priority back to the original provisional application filed on June 20, 1995, and the subsequent non-provisional application filed on October 3, 1995. Key US patents and applications in this family include:

• US 5,978,773: Filed October 3, 1995.
• US 6,199,048: Filed January 15, 1999 (Divisional of the '773 patent's application).
• US 7,383,209: Filed January 29, 2004 (Continuation of the '048 patent's application).
• US 8,131,597: Filed June 30, 2010 (Continuation of the '126 patent's application).
• US 8,805,728: Filed December 13, 2011 (Continuation of the '597 patent's application).
• US 2014/0361071 A1: Filed August 11, 2014 (Continuation of the '728 patent's application).

Projected Expiration Date:

For utility patents filed after June 8, 1995, the term is generally 20 years from the earliest non-provisional filing date to which priority is claimed.

1. Earliest Non-Provisional Filing Date: October 3, 1995.
2. Standard 20-Year Term: Adding 20 years to this date gives an initial expiration date of October 3, 2015.

However, public patent databases indicate that the legal status of US 7,765,126 is "Expired - Fee Related" with an adjusted expiration date of March 20, 2017. This discrepancy arises from the payment of maintenance fees. Patents are subject to maintenance fees at 3.5, 7.5, and 11.5 years after the grant date to remain in force for the full term. The listed status indicates that the required maintenance fees were not paid, leading to the patent's expiration before its full potential term was reached. The specific date of March 20, 2017, likely corresponds to the end of the grace period for paying a required maintenance fee.