Patent 9860450

Extensions

Patent term adjustments, term extensions, continuations, divisionals, family members, and expiration dates.

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Extensions

Patent term adjustments, term extensions, continuations, divisionals, family members, and expiration dates.

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US patent 9860450 has a complex prosecution history, being part of a large family of applications. Based on the provided patent text and general patent law, the following details can be provided:

Patent Term Adjustments (PTA) and Patent Term Extensions (PTE):
Specific details regarding the amount of Patent Term Adjustment (PTA) applied to US9860450 are not explicitly stated in the provided patent text or the search results. PTA is typically granted to compensate for certain delays by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) during the prosecution of a patent application. The Google Patents record indicates an "Anticipated expiration" of 2025-03-24, while the base 20-year term from its earliest priority date (March 25, 2004) would be March 25, 2024. This suggests a PTA of approximately one year was granted.

Patent Term Extensions (PTE) are distinct from PTA and are typically granted under 35 U.S.C. § 156 for patents covering products, such as pharmaceuticals, that require premarket regulatory review by agencies like the FDA. There is no indication from the patent's title, abstract, or description that US9860450 relates to a product subject to regulatory review, making a PTE highly unlikely.

Continuation and Divisional Applications:
US patent 9860450 is explicitly identified as a continuation application. Its "CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS" section details a chain of parent applications:

  • Continuation of Ser. No. 15/149,481, filed May 9, 2016.
  • Which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/690,818, filed on Apr. 20, 2015 (issued as U.S. Pat. No. 9,338,356).
  • Which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/532,654, filed on Nov. 4, 2014 (issued as U.S. Pat. No. 9,013,587).
  • Which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/442,370, filed on Apr. 9, 2012 (issued as U.S. Pat. No. 8,922,663).
  • Which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/274,032, filed on Nov. 19, 2008 (issued as U.S. Pat. No. 8,154,607).
  • Which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/089,081, filed on Mar. 24, 2005 (issued as U.S. Pat. No. 8,331,723).
  • This chain ultimately claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/556,230, filed on Mar. 25, 2004.

The provided patent text and Google Patents information do not explicitly state if any divisional applications directly stem from US9860450 itself. However, the "Family Applications" list on Google Patents shows a large number of related applications that share the same priority date, which could include divisional applications from earlier patents in the chain, or further continuations.

Related Family Members:
The "Family Applications" section on Google Patents lists numerous related patents and applications sharing the same priority date of 2004-03-25. These include both granted patents and pending applications, such as:

Projected Expiration Date:
The general patent term for utility patents filed on or after June 8, 1995, is 20 years from the earliest effective filing date, subject to any Patent Term Adjustment (PTA) or Patent Term Extension (PTE). US9860450 claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/556,230, filed on March 25, 2004. Therefore, the base 20-year patent term would end on March 25, 2024.

However, the Google Patents entry for US9860450B2 lists the "Anticipated expiration" as 2025-03-24. This discrepancy indicates that approximately one year of Patent Term Adjustment (PTA) was likely granted, extending the patent's effective term beyond the standard 20 years from the priority date.

Furthermore, the Google Patents record states the legal status as "Expired - Fee Related". Given that the current date is June 1, 2026, and the anticipated expiration date was March 24, 2025, the patent has indeed expired. The "Fee Related" aspect suggests that the expiration occurred due to the non-payment of maintenance fees rather than reaching the full term based on the 20-year clock plus PTA.

Generated 6/1/2026, 10:46:27 PM