Extensions

To provide a comprehensive analysis for US patent 8515637, I will search the USPTO database for specific details regarding patent term adjustments (PTA), patent term extensions (PTE), continuation applications, divisional applications, related family members, and its projected expiration date.

I will use the USPTO Patent Public Search tool for this purpose.

Analysis of US Patent 8515637

Patent Term Adjustment (PTA)

Patent Term Adjustment (PTA) is granted to compensate for certain administrative delays by the USPTO during the prosecution of a patent application. This adjustment adds additional days to the 20-year term of a U.S. patent. The USPTO automatically determines any PTA and transmits a notice on or before the patent's issue date.

The Google Patents entry for US8515637 does not explicitly state the number of days of Patent Term Adjustment. However, the legal status section indicates an "Adjusted expiration" date of 2031-11-09, while the filing date was 2010-12-23, and the publication date was 2013-08-20. A standard patent term is 20 years from the earliest filing date of the application (excluding provisional applications). Therefore, without any adjustment, the patent would expire on December 23, 2030. The stated adjusted expiration date of November 9, 2031, suggests that Patent Term Adjustment has been applied.

Patent Term Extension (PTE)

Patent Term Extension (PTE) is available for patents on certain products like human drugs, food additives, medical devices, and animal drugs, to restore patent term lost due to pre-market government approval by a regulatory agency (e.g., FDA).

Based on the nature of US patent 8515637, which relates to a "Machine control system and method" for heavy machinery, it is not eligible for Patent Term Extension (PTE) under 35 U.S.C. § 156, as it does not cover products subject to regulatory review periods such as drugs or medical devices.

Continuation and Divisional Applications

• Continuation Applications: A continuation application claims priority to an earlier non-provisional application and discloses the same invention.
• Divisional Applications: A divisional application is filed when an earlier application contained claims to more than one invention, and the USPTO required the applicant to "restrict" the claims to a single invention. Divisional applications benefit from the filing date of the original application.

The Google Patents record for US8515637 shows the application number US12/978,176. It also lists "Other versions" including US20120166050A1. A search of the USPTO Patent Center or Patent Public Search (PPUBS) would be required to definitively identify if US12/978,176 itself is a continuation or divisional of an earlier application, or if any continuation or divisional applications have been filed from US12/978,176. However, without direct access to the full file wrapper via the USPTO's Patent Center, it is not possible to state with high confidence whether this patent is a continuation or divisional of an earlier application, or if there are any continuation or divisional applications directly stemming from this patent.

Related Family Members

Patent family members share a common priority date. The "Priority Applications" section of US8515637 lists the following family members:

• US12/978,176 (same as the application number for US8515637B2)
• JP2013546185A (Published as JP2014505839A)
• DE112011104504.2T (Published as DE112011104504B4)
• BR112013016180A (Published as BR112013016180A2)
• PCT/US2011/063478 (Published as WO2012087564A2)

These are national and international applications that claim priority from the same initial filing (US12/978,176 or its underlying priority document, which in this case is also US12/978,176 itself as the priority date matches the filing date).

Projected Expiration Date

The "Legal status" section of the Google Patents entry for US8515637 clearly states: "Active, expires 2031-11-09". This "Adjusted expiration" date accounts for any Patent Term Adjustment (PTA) applied.