Extensions

US patent 8510543, titled "Firmware supporting multiple boot paths," has the following characteristics regarding its term and related applications:

Patent Term Adjustments (PTA)

Patent Term Adjustment (PTA) can extend the term of a U.S. patent to compensate for delays by the USPTO during the patent application's prosecution. These delays fall into categories such as the USPTO failing to act within specific timeframes (e.g., issuing an office action within 14 months or a patent within three years of filing), or delays due to interferences, secrecy orders, or appeals. The USPTO automatically determines the period of any PTA and notifies the applicant.

A review of the provided patent text from Google Patents for US8510543, under the "Legal Status" and "Legal Events" sections, does not explicitly state the amount of Patent Term Adjustment granted. However, the Adjusted Expiration date of 2031-07-16 is listed.

Patent Term Extensions (PTE)

Patent Term Extension (PTE) is available for patents covering products that require regulatory approval, such as human drugs, medical devices, or food additives, to restore time lost during the regulatory review process (e.g., FDA approval).

There is no indication in the provided patent text or its legal events that US8510543 was subject to a Patent Term Extension. This is consistent with the nature of the invention, which is firmware for computer booting, and therefore generally not subject to regulatory approval processes like those for pharmaceutical products.

Continuation Applications

A continuation application claims the same invention as a prior nonprovisional application and is filed while the original application is still pending. It allows patentees to broaden or focus approved claims or claim material not previously claimed but supported by the specification.

The patent text for US8510543 lists its application number as US12/786,973 and a priority date of 2009-05-28, with a filing date of 2010-05-25. The "Priority Applications" section also lists US12/786,973 as claiming priority from US61/181,846, filed on May 28, 2009. The "Applications Claiming Priority" section also lists US18184609P (filed 2009-05-28). The patent itself (US8510543B1) is the granted patent from application US12/786,973. There is no explicit mention of any further continuation applications filed from US12/786,973.

Divisional Applications

A divisional application is a type of continuing application that is directed to a related, but not the same, invention as the parent application, and is filed when the original application contained claims to more than one invention.

The provided patent text for US8510543 does not indicate any divisional applications.

Related Family Members

The patent lists "Priority Applications" including US12/786,973 (the application that matured into US8510543B1) and US18184609P (U.S. provisional patent application No. 61/181,846, filed on May 28, 2009). These are the direct family members related by priority. The patent text itself is derived from application US12/786,973.

Projected Expiration Date

The "Legal status" section on Google Patents for US8510543 states "Expired - Fee Related , expires 2031-07-16". It also indicates an "Adjusted expiration" date of 2031-07-16. This adjusted expiration date would account for any PTA. The general term for a U.S. patent is 20 years from its earliest effective filing date. The priority date for US8510543 is May 28, 2009, and the filing date is May 25, 2010. Therefore, the 20-year term from the priority date would be May 28, 2029. The listed "Adjusted expiration" of 2031-07-16 indicates that Patent Term Adjustment (PTA) was applied to extend the patent term.

However, a legal event dated 2025-09-15 explicitly states "Lapse for failure to pay maintenance fees" and "PATENT EXPIRED DUE TO NONPAYMENT OF MAINTENANCE FEES UNDER 37 CFR 1.362". The "Effective date" for this lapse is 2025-08-13. This indicates that despite the calculated expiration date, the patent has ceased to be in force due to non-payment of maintenance fees.