How to calculate patent expiration date?

Question

Example: https://patents.google.com/patent/US8019529B1/

Said example has a history / timeline:

Application US11/893,728 events 
2007-08-17
Application filed by Rockwell Collins Inc
2007-08-17
Priority to US11/893,728
2007-09-10
Assigned to ROCKWELL COLLINS, INC.
2007-09-14
Assigned to ROCKWELL COLLINS, INC.
2011-09-13
Application granted
2011-09-13
Publication of US8019529B1
Status
Active
**2030-05-11. Adjusted expiration**

I have it in my mind that I read that the clock startes when filed (2007). Adjusted expirations 2030 (three years beyond 20). What is the reason for a 2030 expiration date?

Answer 1

A direct answer might be to use the USPTO term calculator. It’s quite complicated and the USPTO was sued a few years ago for not following their own rules in doing so.

Fuller story -

Before changes to US patent law in the mid 90s due to TRIPS US patents expired 17 years from the date of grant.

TRIPS is an international agreement that sets a common framework for IP laws among all members of the World Trade Organization. For patents it establishes limits on national patent rules. One is that patent term is determined from application date (it’s a little more complicated) rather than grant date and the minimum is 20 years. In the US the goal for “typical” time of pendency was and is about three years, so 20 from application is about the same as 17 from grant if the pendency is three years.

As part of changing the law to conform with TRIPS, a complicated system was developed that attempts to account for delay not caused by the applicant that pushes the pendency past three years.

This is Patent Term Adjustment (PTA) which is added to the 20 year term. PTA is why the cited patent expires in 2030.

There's a separate type of addition to term called Patent Term Extension (PTE) for regulated medical and pharmaceutical products to account for time to get regulatory approval.

Answer 2

Extension of Patent due to delays in the regulatory approval processes

Patents are generally for 20 years from filing, but they can last longer: on the one hand, anything where the FDA is involved, the Patent Time Extension might strike, trying to lessen the blow of the extra filings needed to allow someone to make a food or medical product. And then USPTO might be slow, which can lead to Patent Time Adjustment.

Might it be Patent Time Extension?

Some inventions, most commonly pharmacological active substances, can have their patents extended. The applicable law is 35 USC 156, which requires among others:

(a) (4)the product has been subject to a regulatory review period before its commercial marketing or use;

(c) The term of a patent eligible for extension under subsection (a) shall be extended by the time equal to the regulatory review period for the approved product which period occurs after the date the patent is issued

The wording for patent time extension in that section however is specific for drugs, food additives, or other medical products, and an airport runway light is not a drug. So it is not a Patent Time Adjustment. So how can the patent be extended anyway? That becomes clear if you look up the file for that patent in the database of the USPTO.

Then is it a Patent Time Adjustment?

The patent in question is not a drug, but any other widget. That makes 35 USC 156 inapplicable, but not general patent law. First of all, a lookup of the patent's filing history in the Patent Examination Data System needed. With the patent number, 8019529, as the search term for PAtent number, the Patent History appears. It also has a seperate rider for its Patent Term Extension, in which in detail the approval of an extension is detailed by actions taken. It is most noticable that in the headerbox, a number of days are listed as A & B delay times, which were non-overlappingly were granted as extension, to make good for various types of delays in the USPTO: 686 A-Delays and 392 B-Delays for a total of 998 non overlapping days. Those are defined as:

(3) "A" DELAYS. This entry reflects adjustments to the term of the patent based upon USPTO delays pursuant to 35 U.S.C. § 154(b)(1)(A)(i)-(iv) and the implementing regulations 37 CFR 1.702(a) & 37 CFR 1.703(a). All "A" delays will be included in the PTA determination that is mailed as part of the ISSUE NOTIFICATION LETTER.

(4) "B" DELAYS. This entry reflects adjustments to the term of the patent based upon the patent failing to issue within three years of the actual filing date of the application in the United States under section 111(a) in the United States or, in the case of an international application, the date of commencement of the national stage under section 371. See 35 U.S.C. § 154(b) and implementing regulations 37 CFR 1.702(b) & 1.703(b). "B" delay is calculated at the time that the issue notification letter is generated and an issue date has been established.

That comes out to about 2 years for whenever USPTO did not meet its burdon to answer within timeframe, and about another year for the time that the patent was not granted before the 3rd anniversary of the patent filing in 2010. Or roundabout 3 years in total.