Extensions

Analysis for US Patent US20180240021A1

As of May 1, 2026, the following details pertain to the patent prosecution history and family of U.S. Patent Application Publication No. US20180240021A1, which was granted as U.S. Patent No. 11,087,221 B2.

Patent Term

• Projected Expiration Date: The projected expiration date for U.S. Patent No. 11,087,221 B2 is March 8, 2039.
• Patent Term Adjustment (PTA): The standard 20-year term from its filing date of February 20, 2017, would have resulted in an expiration date of February 20, 2037. The adjusted expiration date of March 8, 2039, indicates a significant patent term adjustment granted by the USPTO, likely to compensate for delays during the patent prosecution process. Such adjustments are provided under 35 U.S.C. § 154(b) to account for administrative delays by the patent office.
• Patent Term Extension (PTE): There is no indication of any Patent Term Extension (PTE) for this patent. PTE is typically associated with delays in regulatory review for products like pharmaceuticals and is not applicable here.

Continuity and Divisional Applications

Based on the provided documentation and a search of the public record, there are no continuation or divisional applications that claim priority to U.S. Application No. 15/437,170 (the application that matured into the '221 patent). The application itself claims priority to its own filing date and does not appear to be a continuation or divisional of a prior U.S. application.

Patent Family

This U.S. patent is part of a larger international patent family, indicating that the assignee, Saudi Arabian Oil Company, sought protection for this invention in multiple jurisdictions. A patent family consists of a set of patent applications filed in various countries that are related to each other through a common priority claim.

The known members of the patent family for US20180240021A1 include:

• United States:

  • Application No.: US15/437,170 (Filing Date: 2017-02-20)
  • Publication No.: US20180240021A1
  • Granted Patent No.: US11087221B2 (Issue Date: 2021-08-10)

• World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO/PCT):

  • Application No.: PCT/US2018/018098
  • Publication No.: WO2018152147A1

• European Patent Office (EP):

  • Application No.: EP18707562.7A
  • Publication No.: EP3583292A1

• China (CN):

  • Application No.: CN201880012935.8A
  • Publication No.: CN110325706A

• Saudi Arabia (SA):

  • Application No.: SA519402351A
  • Publication No.: SA519402351B1