Extensions

To provide a comprehensive analysis of US Patent 9905691 regarding patent term adjustments (PTA), patent term extensions (PTE), continuation/divisional applications, related family members, and its projected expiration date, it's important to consult the official USPTO records directly.

Based on the general information available for US Patent 9905691 and the principles of patent term calculation:

Patent Term Adjustments (PTA)

Patent Term Adjustment (PTA) is granted to compensate for certain administrative delays by the USPTO during the prosecution of a utility or plant patent application. This can include delays in issuing an office action within 14 months, responding to applicant replies within four months, or issuing the patent within 36 months from the filing date, among others. The patent text for US9905691 does not explicitly state the amount of PTA awarded. To determine the exact PTA, one would typically examine the Issue Notification or a Certificate of Correction within the patent's official file history on the USPTO Patent Center.

Patent Term Extensions (PTE)

Patent Term Extension (PTE) is generally available for patents claiming products (such as human drugs, medical devices, food additives, or veterinary biological products) that require premarket regulatory review by agencies like the FDA. The purpose is to restore some of the patent term lost during this regulatory approval process. Given that US9905691 is related to "Method for depinning the fermi level of a semiconductor at an electrical junction and devices incorporating such junctions," it falls under the category of semiconductor devices and processes, not typically products eligible for PTE under 35 U.S.C. § 156. Therefore, it is highly unlikely that US9905691 received a Patent Term Extension.

Continuation and Divisional Applications

The patent text explicitly states: "The present application is a CONTINUATION of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/552,556, filed Jul. 18, 2012, which is a CONTINUATION of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/022,522, filed Feb. 7, 2011, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,431,469, which is a DIVISIONAL of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/197,996, filed Aug. 25, 2008, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,884,003, which is a DIVISIONAL of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/181,217, filed Jul. 13, 2005, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,462,860, which is a CONTINUATION of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/217,758, filed Aug. 12, 2002, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,084,423, which is related to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/342,576, filed Jan. 14, 2003, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,833,556, all of which are hereby incorporated by reference."

This clearly details a complex family tree:

• US9905691 (Application No. 15/048,877) is a continuation of US 13/552,556.
• US 13/552,556 is a continuation of US 13/022,522 (which issued as US Patent 8,431,469).
• US 13/022,522 is a divisional of US 12/197,996 (which issued as US Patent 7,884,003).
• US 12/197,996 is a divisional of US 11/181,217 (which issued as US Patent 7,462,860).
• US 11/181,217 is a continuation of US 10/217,758 (which issued as US Patent 7,084,423).
• US 10/217,758 was filed on August 12, 2002, and claims the earliest priority date in this direct chain.
• The text also mentions a related application, US 10/342,576 (which issued as US Patent 6,833,556), filed January 14, 2003.

Related Family Members

Based on the continuation and divisional relationships described above, the direct family members are:

• US Patent 8,431,469
• US Patent 7,884,003
• US Patent 7,462,860
• US Patent 7,084,423
• US Patent 6,833,556 (related)

The Google Patents page for US9905691 also lists "Other versions": US20160172491A1. This is a patent application publication corresponding to US9905691.

Additional priority claims are noted on the Google Patents page, indicating a broader family, but not necessarily direct continuation/divisional relationships to this specific patent:

• US15/251,210 (priority to US9812542B2/en)
• US15/728,002 (priority to US10388748B2/en)
• US15/877,837 (priority to US10090395B2/en)
• US15/981,594 (priority to US10186592B2/en)
• US16/506,022 (priority to US11056569B2/en)
• US16/847,878 (priority to US11018237B2/en)
• US15/929,593 (priority to US10950707B2/en)
• US15/929,592 (priority to US10937880B2/en)
• US17/304,108 (priority to US11355613B2/en)

These indicate a complex and extensive patent family originating from the same inventive concepts.

Projected Expiration Date

The "Patent summary" section of this analysis, which used the Google Patents page as a source, states: "The patent's legal status is 'Expired - Fee Related,' with an adjusted expiration date of October 10, 2023." This aligns with the "Legal status" section on Google Patents, which states "Expired - Fee Related, expires 2023-10-10."

For utility patents filed on or after June 8, 1995, the standard term is 20 years from the earliest claimed filing date. In the case of US9905691, the earliest filing date in the direct chain of continuations and divisionals is August 12, 2002, from U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/217,758. Therefore, the nominal 20-year term would have been August 12, 2022.

The stated adjusted expiration date of October 10, 2023, suggests that some Patent Term Adjustment (PTA) was awarded to compensate for USPTO delays during prosecution. The "Expired - Fee Related" status indicates that maintenance fees were not paid, or not paid in a timely manner, leading to the patent's expiration on that date, despite any calculated PTA. Since the patent is currently listed as "Expired - Fee Related" as of April 26, 2026, and its expiration date was October 10, 2023, it is no longer in force.