Microsoft is a multinational technology corporation that develops, licenses and sells software, consumer electronics, and personal computers. It was founded by Bill Gates and Paul Allen on April 4, 1975, and is headquartered in Redmond, Washington. The company is best known for its Windows operating system and Microsoft Office software suite, but it also offers a range of other products and services, including cloud computing solutions, gaming devices, and mobile devices. With a market capitalization of over $2 trillion, Microsoft is one of the largest and most influential companies in the technology industry.
Microsoft has a total of 55797 patents globally. Out of 55797 patents, 24029 patents are active. Â
Have a look at some of the most well-known patents held by Microsoft that we have covered in this article. You can also get information on Microsoft’s patents, the global patent filing activity country-wise, its historical patent filing trends, and many more statistics regarding Microsoft’s patent portfolio. Â
What Did The Patent Landscape Of Microsoft Look Like?

This chart shows the number of applications filed and the number of grants from these applications. Grant rate is a good indicator to identify successful applications and the graph helps to understand the progress in the technology area.Â
Detailed Patent Portfolio Of Microsoft
Publication Type | Simple Legal Status | Legal State | Count of Publications |
APPLICATIONÂ | DEADÂ | DISCONTINUATIONÂ | 8197Â |
LAPSEDÂ | 5504Â | ||
NON-PAYMENTÂ | 3216Â | ||
WITHDRAWNÂ | 1518Â | ||
REJECTEDÂ | 728Â | ||
CEASEDÂ | 628Â | ||
EXPIREDÂ | 525Â | ||
ABANDONEDÂ | 308Â | ||
ACTIVEÂ | GRANTEDÂ | 10287Â | |
PENDINGÂ | EXAMINATIONÂ | 1069Â | |
PUBLISHEDÂ | 625Â | ||
UNDETERMINEDÂ | UNDETERMINEDÂ | 308Â | |
PATENTÂ | ACTIVEÂ | GRANTEDÂ | 9895Â |
RESTORATIONÂ | 308Â | ||
DEADÂ | NON-PAYMENTÂ | 3749Â | |
EXPIREDÂ | 3254Â | ||
CEASEDÂ | 1009Â | ||
WITHDRAWNÂ | 308Â | ||
REJECTEDÂ | 308Â | ||
PENDINGÂ | EXAMINATIONÂ | 308Â | |
DESIGNÂ | ACTIVEÂ | GRANTEDÂ | 2943Â |
DEADÂ | EXPIREDÂ | 1681Â | |
NON-PAYMENTÂ | 308Â | ||
OTHERSÂ | ACTIVEÂ | GRANTEDÂ | 308Â |
DEADÂ | NON-PAYMENTÂ | 308Â | |
UTILITY MODELÂ | DEADÂ | EXPIREDÂ | 308Â |
ACTIVEÂ | GRANTEDÂ | 308Â |
Technology Domain-wise Patent Trend in Microsoft



The chart above distributes patents filed till 2021 in Microsoft on the basis of the technology protected in patents. This helps to understand the most frequently used concepts and the key focus areas in the technology space.
Top Publications In The Domain With Their Forward Citation Frequency
The table below depicts the patents with most number of forward citations. These patents are likely to be the source of advancement in the domain and can be considered as valuable and core inventions.Â
Publication Number | Year Wise Break Down | Count of Citing Patents | ||||
< 2006Â | 2006-2010Â | 2011-2015Â | 2016-2020Â | >2020Â | ||
US-6698020-B1Â | 286Â | 617Â | 728Â | 480Â | 200Â | 2311Â |
US-6385596-B1Â | 363Â | 586Â | 561Â | 430Â | 120Â | 2060Â |
US-6310610-B1Â | 14Â | 217Â | 565Â | 876Â | 233Â | 1905Â |
US-5883810-AÂ | 378Â | 550Â | 410Â | 362Â | 172Â | 1872Â |
US-5616876-AÂ | 198Â | 484Â | 468Â | 404Â | 100Â | 1654Â |
US-6052735-AÂ | 187Â | 385Â | 502Â | 387Â | 170Â | 1631Â |
US-5774668-AÂ | 417Â | 443Â | 404Â | 264Â | 79Â | 1607Â |
US-5875108-AÂ | 230Â | 342Â | 545Â | 333Â | 48Â | 1498Â |
US-5815665-AÂ | 442Â | 455Â | 335Â | 175Â | 30Â | 1437Â |
US-5915001-AÂ | 425Â | 378Â | 319Â | 244Â | 25Â | 1391Â |
Who Were The Leading Patent Filers Countries Till 2021 In Microsoft?Â



IPC Classification Wise Patent Trend In Microsoft
The table below represents the top 10 market domains according to their IPC classification where inventors believed it was critical to safeguard certain technical inventions.Â
IPC Classification | Number of Applications | Number of Granted | % Granted |
ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING (G06F)Â | 31980Â | 11764Â | 37Â |
TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION (H04L)Â | 8201Â | 3279Â | 40Â |
DATA PROCESSING SYSTEMS OR METHODS, SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL, SUPERVISORY OR FORECASTING PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL, SUPERVISORY OR FORECASTING PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR (G06Q)Â | 4419Â | 1059Â | 24Â |
PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION (H04N)Â | 3307Â | 1344Â | 41Â |
IMAGE DATA PROCESSING OR GENERATION, IN GENERAL (G06T)Â | 2728Â | 1241Â | 45Â |
SPEECH ANALYSIS OR SYNTHESIS; SPEECH RECOGNITION; SPEECH OR VOICE PROCESSING; SPEECH OR AUDIO CODING OR DECODING (G10L)Â | 2559Â | 1208Â | 47Â |
RECOGNITION OF DATA; PRESENTATION OF DATA; RECORD CARRIERS; HANDLING RECORD CARRIERS (G06K)Â | 2107Â | 841Â | 40Â |
COMPUTER SYSTEMS BASED ON SPECIFIC COMPUTATIONAL MODELS (G06N)Â | 1814Â | 463Â | 26Â |
WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS (H04W)Â | 1645Â | 662Â | 40Â |
TELEPHONIC COMMUNICATION (H04M)Â | 1580Â | 739Â | 47Â |
About TTC
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