Extensions

Patent Term Adjustments (PTA) and Patent Term Extensions (PTE) for US9117909

The USPTO does not calculate expiration dates for patents but provides resources to help estimate them, including a patent term calculator. Patent Term Adjustment (PTA) can extend the term of a U.S. patent to compensate for certain delays by the USPTO during the prosecution of a utility or plant patent application. These delays include failing to: issue a first office action within 14 months of filing, respond to an applicant's reply within four months, act on an application within four months after a PTAB decision or federal court decision, or issue a patent within four months of payment of the issue fee. Additionally, PTA is granted if an application is pending for more than three years, excluding applicant-caused delays.

Patent Term Extension (PTE) is distinct from PTA and is available for patents on certain human drugs, food or color additives, medical devices, animal drugs, and veterinary biological products to restore time lost while awaiting premarket government approval from a regulatory agency.

For US Patent 9117909:

• Patent Term Adjustment (PTA): The Google Patents entry for US9117909B2 does not explicitly state any Patent Term Adjustment (PTA) days. To determine the precise PTA, one would typically need to examine the Issue Notification Letter for the patent, which includes the PTA calculation. Without this specific information, any PTA for US9117909 cannot be detailed.
• Patent Term Extension (PTE): Based on the subject matter of US9117909 (non-planar transistor, FinFET technology), it does not fall within the categories of patents eligible for PTE (e.g., human drugs, medical devices). Therefore, it is highly unlikely that US9117909 has received any PTE.

Continuation and Divisional Applications

• Continuation Applications: A continuation application allows an applicant to pursue additional patent claims while retaining the priority date of an earlier "parent" application. It must be filed before the parent application issues or is abandoned, and cannot introduce new subject matter.
• Divisional Applications: A divisional application arises when the USPTO issues a restriction requirement, determining that a single application contains two or more independent and distinct inventions. The applicant then pursues one invention in the parent and files one or more divisionals for the remaining inventions. Divisional applications are entitled to the parent's filing date.

For US9117909:

• Continuation Applications: The provided information indicates that US9117909B2 (Application No. US14/470,957) is a Divisional of application Ser. No. 13/863,393 filed Apr. 16, 2013 [cite: CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application is a Divisional of application Ser. No. 13/863,393 filed Apr. 16, 2013, and included herein by reference.]. Therefore, US9117909B2 itself is not a continuation application, but a divisional. No continuation applications are explicitly listed as having been filed from US9117909B2 in the provided patent text.
• Divisional Applications: As stated in the "CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS" section, US9117909 (Application No. US14/470,957) is a divisional application of application Ser. No. 13/863,393, which was filed on April 16, 2013. [cite: CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application is a Divisional of application Ser. No. 13/863,393 filed Apr. 16, 2013, and included herein by reference.]

Related Family Members

The patent family for US9117909 includes the following:

• Parent Application: US 13/863,393, filed April 16, 2013, which issued as US8853015B1, titled "Method of forming a FinFET structure." [cite: CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application is a Divisional of application Ser. No. 13/863,393 filed Apr. 16, 2013, and included herein by reference., US8853015B1 - Method of forming a FinFET structure]
• Other Published Applications: US20140367798A1, published December 18, 2014, is another version of the application leading to US9117909B2. [cite: Other versions US20140367798A1]

Projected Expiration Date

The term of a U.S. utility patent generally begins on the date the patent issues and ends twenty years from the date on which the earliest U.S. application was filed, from which benefit is claimed under 35 U.S.C. § 120, § 121, or § 365(c).

For US9117909:

• Earliest Priority Date: April 16, 2013 [cite: Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.) 2013-04-16]
• Calculation: Twenty years from the earliest priority date of April 16, 2013, would be April 16, 2033.
• Anticipated Expiration: April 16, 2033. [cite: Anticipated expiration 2033-04-16]

This projected expiration date does not account for any potential Patent Term Adjustment (PTA) or Patent Term Extension (PTE), as specific PTA data is not provided, and PTE is not applicable to this patent's subject matter.