Extensions

Detailed Analysis of U.S. Patent US8069073B2: Expired Due to Non-Payment of Fees

Washington D.C. - U.S. Patent US8069073B2, titled "System and method for facilitating bilateral and multilateral decision-making," has expired due to failure to pay required maintenance fees and is no longer in force. The patent, which was granted on November 29, 2011, had an anticipated expiration date of March 29, 2020.

Patent Term and Expiration

Initially, the patent's term was projected to extend 20 years from its earliest filing date. However, like all U.S. utility patents, it was subject to periodic maintenance fees payable to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) to remain in force. These fees are due at 3.5, 7.5, and 11.5 years after the patent is granted.

Public records indicate that the maintenance fees for US8069073B2 were not paid within the designated timeframe, leading to its expiration. The status of the patent is listed as "Expired - Fee Related." While under certain circumstances a patent owner can petition for reinstatement if the delay in payment was unintentional, this patent remains expired.

Patent Term Adjustments (PTA) and Extensions (PTE)

There is no indication from the available public records that any Patent Term Extension (PTE) was filed or granted for this patent. PTE is a mechanism to restore patent term lost due to regulatory review delays, typically for pharmaceutical products, and is not applicable to this patent's subject matter.

Details regarding any Patent Term Adjustment (PTA) that may have been granted were not readily available in the initial public search results. PTA is a process to compensate for delays caused by the USPTO during the patent prosecution process. A thorough review of the patent's file wrapper, available through the USPTO's Patent Center, would be necessary to determine the exact number of PTA days, if any, that were calculated and applied to the patent's term. However, any such adjustment would be moot given the patent's expiration due to non-payment of fees.

Application History: Continuations and Family Members

US Patent US8069073B2 is part of a larger patent family and claims priority to earlier applications. The "Cross-Reference to Related Applications" section of the patent document explicitly states that it is a continuation of application Ser. No. 11/711,249, filed on February 27, 2007. This earlier application is, in turn, a continuation of application Ser. No. 11/171,082, filed on June 29, 2005.

A comprehensive list of all related domestic and international patent family members would require a detailed search of patent databases such as the USPTO's Patent Center and international patent offices. There is no public record indicating any divisional applications associated with this patent. Divisional applications are filed when a patent application is determined to contain more than one invention.

In summary, while U.S. Patent US8069073B2 had a history of continuation applications, its term was cut short due to the non-payment of required maintenance fees, rendering it expired and unenforceable.