12/31/2022 0 Comments Us patent 6183297![]() The reference must identify all of the prior applications and indicate the relationship between each application in order to establish copendency throughout the entire chain of prior applications, and usually forms the first paragraph of the specification. Precise details for claiming the benefit of an earlier filed application can be read in the full article Considerations, concerns and recommendations in calculating patent expiry dates for United States patents, but in short, if an applicant wishes that a pending application has the benefit of the filing date of an earlier filed application, they must make reference to the earlier application. With simple examples such as these you can be confident, but as the number of continuations or continuations-in-part or divisionals grows it becomes more difficult, and situations where the continuing applications span more than 20 years are particularly troublesome. The earliest related application has a filing date of 7 April 2000, so adding 20 years gives 7 April 2020 as the expiry date, and not 15 February 2022. These are a continuation-in-part, filed on 22 December 2000, of US 6436915, which is a continuation-in-part, filed on 7 April 2000, of US 6214613. A further example, US 7105503 has a filing date of 15 February 2002, but in this case there are earlier related applications.There are no earlier related applications, so adding 20 years to the filing date gives 27 March 2021 as the expiry date. ![]() For example, US 6472448 has a filing date of 27 March 2001. ![]() For applications filed on or after 8 June 1995, the expiry date is 20 years from the date of the earliest related application, or where there are no earlier applications, the filing date.The expiry date is the later date, 20 December 2011. Adding 20 years to the filing date gives 20 December 2011, and adding 17 years to the issue date gives 15 June 2010. For example, US 5219846 has a filing date of 20 December 1991 and an issue date of 15 June 1993.For applications filed prior to, and still in force or pending on, 8 June 1995, the expiry date is the later of 17 years from the issue date, and 20 years from the filing date.The commonly held view of how to calculate US patent expiry dates is as follows: Why then, is it so difficult to accurately calculate expiry dates for US patents, and be confident in your answer? ![]() Some countries even calculate it for you and display it in a field in their online databases. Calculating patent expiries for most countries is relatively straightforward. ![]()
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