Extensions

Analysis of U.S. Patent No. US7383209: Term, Continuations, and Family

Based on a detailed review of the provided patent documentation and public records for US Patent No. US7383209, the following information has been determined as of April 29, 2026.

Patent Term and Expiration Date

• Filing Date: January 29, 2004
• Earliest Priority Date: June 20, 1995 (from provisional application Ser. No. 60/000,442)
• First Non-Provisional Filing Date: October 3, 1995 (from application Ser. No. 08/538,365)

A standard patent term is 20 years from the earliest non-provisional filing date. Therefore, the base expiration date for this patent would have been October 3, 2015.

• Patent Term Adjustment (PTA): The USPTO granted a significant patent term adjustment due to delays in processing the application. Public records indicate an adjusted expiration date of February 9, 2017.

• Patent Term Extension (PTE): There are no patent term extensions for this patent. PTE is typically granted for delays related to regulatory review (e.g., by the FDA) and is not applicable in this case.

• Final Status: The patent is now Expired. The official status is "Expired - Fee Related," indicating that the patent expired due to failure to pay required maintenance fees before its full adjusted term was completed.

Application Relationships

This patent is part of a large family of applications, stemming from an initial provisional application in 1995.

• Parent Applications:

  • Application No. US10/768,991 (which issued as this patent) is a continuation of application Ser. No. 09/633,932 (filed August 8, 2000; now abandoned).
  • The '932 application was a continuation of application Ser. No. 09/232,908 (filed January 15, 1999), which issued as U.S. Patent No. 6,199,048.
  • The '908 application was a divisional application of application Ser. No. 08/538,365 (filed October 3, 1995), which issued as U.S. Patent No. 5,978,773.

• Child (Continuation) Application:

  • A continuation application, Ser. No. US11/765,887, was filed on June 20, 2007, claiming priority to this patent. This continuation issued as U.S. Patent No. 7,765,126.

Key Patent Family Members

The patent family for US7383209 is extensive and includes several issued patents and applications. The core patents in this family, linked by the priority claim originating from the 1995 provisional application, include:

• U.S. Patent No. 5,978,773: The original parent patent.
• U.S. Patent No. 6,199,048: A patent from the divisional application.
• U.S. Patent No. 7,383,209: The subject patent of this analysis.
• U.S. Patent No. 7,765,126: A direct continuation of the subject patent.
• U.S. Patent No. 8,131,597: A further continuation in the family.
• U.S. Patent No. 8,805,728: Another continuation in the family.
• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2014/0361071: From a subsequent continuation application that is now abandoned.