Extensions

To provide a comprehensive analysis for US Patent 8,713,624, I will leverage the USPTO's Patent Public Search tool to identify any Patent Term Adjustments (PTA), Patent Term Extensions (PTE), continuation or divisional applications, related family members, and the projected expiration date.

Patent Term Adjustments (PTA) for US8713624

Patent Term Adjustment (PTA) can extend the term of a U.S. patent to compensate for certain delays caused by the USPTO during the examination process. These delays typically involve the USPTO failing to meet specific timeframes, such as issuing a first office action within 14 months or a patent within 36 months of the filing date. However, any extension can be reduced if delays are caused by the applicant.

To determine the specific PTA for US8713624, one would typically need to examine the patent's file wrapper in Patent Center or use a patent term calculator that incorporates PTA data. Since I cannot directly access real-time, dynamic data from the USPTO's Patent Center or execute a proprietary calculator, I cannot provide the exact PTA for US8713624.

Patent Term Extensions (PTE) for US8713624

Patent Term Extensions (PTE) are granted under the Hatch-Waxman Act, primarily for patents covering pharmaceutical products, medical devices, food or color additives, and animal drugs, to restore a portion of the patent term lost due to regulatory review by agencies like the FDA.

Given that US Patent 8,713,624 relates to "Signal processing apparatus and methods" and not a product requiring regulatory approval from agencies such as the FDA, it is highly unlikely to have received any Patent Term Extensions (PTE).

Continuation and Divisional Applications for US8713624

Continuation applications are filed while a parent application is still pending (not abandoned or granted) and claim priority to the parent application, often to pursue additional claims to the same subject matter. Divisional applications are a specific type of continuing application filed when an examiner requires the original application to be divided into multiple inventions.

To definitively identify any continuation or divisional applications for US8713624, a thorough search of the patent's family history within the USPTO database (such as Patent Center or Patent Public Search) would be necessary. Without direct access to this live search functionality, I cannot list specific continuation or divisional applications for US8713624 at this time.

Related Family Members of US8713624

A patent family consists of all patents and patent applications that share a common priority claim. Related family members would typically be identified through a "Global Dossier" or similar tools that track patent applications filed in multiple patent offices.

The provided patent text indicates a priority claim from US06/317,510 on November 3, 1981, and also notes "US4694490A/en" under "external-priority". This suggests that US Patent 4,694,490 is a related family member, likely a parent patent from which US8713624 claims priority.

Projected Expiration Date for US8713624

For utility patents filed on or after June 8, 1995, the patent term generally extends for 20 years from the earliest effective non-provisional filing date, subject to any Patent Term Adjustments (PTA) or extensions (PTE) and terminal disclaimers.

US8713624 was filed on June 7, 1995. This filing date falls on the exact cutoff for the 20-year term from filing rule. However, the patent explicitly states that it claims priority from US06/317,510, filed on November 3, 1981. According to 35 U.S.C. § 154, for applications filed after June 7, 1995, the term is 20 years from the filing date of the earliest application if there is a specific reference to an earlier filed application under 35 U.S.C. 120, 121, or 365(c). This means the 20-year clock should start from the earliest priority date.

Given the priority date of November 3, 1981, a basic calculation for a 20-year term would suggest an expiration around November 3, 2001. However, the patent was issued on April 29, 2014, which is well after this date. This indicates that the patent term calculation for this specific patent is complex and likely subject to specific legal interpretations and potentially the pre-GATT rules if it was considered an application that was continuously pending from before June 8, 1995.

The Google Patents information for US8713624 lists an "Anticipated expiration" date of 2031-04-29. This date is 17 years from the issue date of April 29, 2014, which aligns with the previous patent term rule (17 years from grant) for applications filed before June 8, 1995, even if they issued later. This suggests that despite the 1995 filing date of the specific application that matured into US8713624, the priority to the 1981 application (US06/317,510) means its term is likely governed by the pre-GATT rules.

Therefore, the projected expiration date for US8713624 is April 29, 2031, which is 17 years from its issue date. This calculation would supersede the 20-year from earliest filing date rule due to the circumstances of its filing and priority claims. It's important to note that this is a complex area of patent law, and a definitive calculation would require access to the full prosecution history and any terminal disclaimers filed.