Company patents

Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC

Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC's patent strategy reveals a surprising shift away from core computing areas, with significant year-over-year declines across most categories, including Machine Learning & AI (-13.1% in 2025) and Databases & Information Retrieval (-1.3% in 2025), which together still constitute 34.6% of its portfolio. While Natural Language Processing showed a modest increase in 2024 (+19.3%) and Computer Security maintained growth (+11.1% in 2025), the overall trend suggests a broad reprioritization, with Business Methods & Fintech experiencing a notable decline of -25.6% in 2025, and all categories showing substantial drops so far in 2026 due to partial data.

Patent Trend by Technology Area

Yearly patent publications since 2023

Product themes

Product-level themes inferred from filings since 2023, with category chips showing where each theme appears. Select a theme to filter the patents below.

12,869 US filings (since 2023) · 12 categories · 50 themes

AI Information Synthesis is up +68.0% YoY. Worth a look.
Large Model Text Generation

Techniques for generating human-like text or other content using large pre-trained models, often involving prompt engineering, speculative decoding, or multi-modal inputs for content creation.

Natural Language ProcessingMachine Learning & AI
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908since 2023
+53.7%YoY
Video Quality & Encoding Optimizationfiltered

Methods and apparatus for improving the visual fidelity, resolution, or compression efficiency of video signals, often through advanced processing, up-scaling, or neural network-based filters.

Pictorial / Video CommunicationsComputer Vision
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817since 2023
+12.1%YoY
Collaborative User Experiences

User interface designs and systems that enable multiple users to interact with shared content, provide feedback, or coordinate activities, often across different devices or locations.

Input/Output & User Interfaces
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809since 2023
-20.4%YoY
AI Information Synthesis

Systems and methods utilizing artificial intelligence, particularly large language models and neural networks, to extract, summarize, generate, or categorize information from unstructured or semi-structured data sources.

Databases & Information Retrieval
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728since 2023
+68.0%YoY
Video Enhancement & Object Tracking

Methods and systems for improving the quality of video streams, generating intermediate frames, or continuously locating and following objects within a sequence of images, even under occlusion.

Image Processing
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646since 2023
+8.1%YoY
Personalized Recommendations

Systems that use user data, preferences, and machine learning to generate tailored advice, product recommendations, goal-setting plans, or contextual information for individuals across different domains.

Business Methods & Fintech
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485since 2023
+10.2%YoY
Virtualization & Secure Remote Access

Technologies enabling the creation and management of virtual computing environments, including virtual machines and virtual desktops, with an emphasis on secure and efficient remote access, updates, and performance.

Operating Systems & Program Control
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464since 2023
-22.8%YoY
AR/VR User Interfaces

Techniques for rendering, interacting with, and managing content within augmented or virtual reality environments, including spatial tracking, gaze interaction, and dynamic multi-application display management.

Input/Output & User Interfaces
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457since 2023
-20.3%YoY
Access Control & Identity Management

Systems and methods for authenticating users, devices, or applications, authorizing their access to resources based on policies, and managing digital identities across various platforms.

Network Security & Access ControlComputer Security
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441since 2023
-3.1%YoY
System Resource & Power Optimization

Methods and systems for efficiently allocating computing resources, balancing workloads, and managing power states to improve performance, reduce energy consumption, or enhance reliability in computing platforms.

Operating Systems & Program Control
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422since 2023
-12.7%YoY
AI/ML for Cryptographic Security

Applying artificial intelligence and machine learning techniques to enhance cryptographic systems, such as generating encryption models, improving zero-trust architectures, or enabling privacy-preserving computations like federated learning.

Computer Security
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391since 2023
+67.1%YoY
Interactive & Generative Display Systems

Technologies that create dynamic and interactive visual content for displays, including virtual/wearable systems, by generating overlays, replacing input streams, or merging real-time user actions with digital environments.

Pictorial / Video Communications
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369since 2023
+27.3%YoY
Secure Data Sharing & Rights Management

Mechanisms to facilitate the secure exchange of data between different entities or systems while enforcing usage policies, managing digital content rights, and ensuring data consistency during replication or transfer.

Computer Security
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362since 2023
-1.0%YoY
Cloud Security Posture Management

Tools and processes for assessing, monitoring, and improving the security configuration and external accessibility of resources deployed within cloud computing environments.

Network Security & Access Control
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324since 2023
+21.4%YoY
Context-Aware Conversational AI

AI systems designed to engage in natural language dialogue, maintain conversation state, understand user intent, and generate relevant responses, often across multiple communication channels or modalities.

Natural Language Processing
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298since 2023
+27.5%YoY
Specialized Data Integration

Methods and systems for integrating, transforming, and managing complex or domain-specific data from disparate sources into a unified structure, often for specific applications like social networks, genomics, or business forms.

Databases & Information Retrieval
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295since 2023
-5.4%YoY
AI/ML Hardware Acceleration

Specialized hardware, architectural designs, and computational methods to improve the speed, efficiency, and security of artificial intelligence and machine learning model execution, particularly for inference and data processing.

Machine Learning & AI
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290since 2023
+13.5%YoY
Document & Information Extraction

Methods and systems for identifying, extracting, and structuring specific entities, relationships, or insights from text-based documents, often involving techniques like named entity recognition, relation extraction, or summarization.

Natural Language Processing
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287since 2023
+1.2%YoY
Generative AI for Images

Techniques utilizing deep learning models like Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs) or diffusion models to create new images, modify existing ones, or generate synthetic data based on various inputs or conditions.

Image ProcessingComputer Vision
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260since 2023
+40.6%YoY
Network Intrusion Detection

Systems and methods for identifying and blocking unauthorized access, malicious activities, or abnormal behavior within a network by analyzing traffic, system logs, or behavioral patterns.

Network Security & Access Control
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259since 2023
+8.1%YoY
Predictive System Health

Techniques for monitoring system components and behaviors to anticipate failures, performance degradation, or anomalies, often leveraging machine learning for pattern recognition and forecasting.

System Reliability & Diagnostics
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254since 2023
-5.5%YoY
Wearable & Mobile Interaction

Designing user interfaces and interaction methods specifically for mobile or wearable devices, enabling control of external systems, monitoring user states, or facilitating real-world transactions.

Input/Output & User Interfaces
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243since 2023
-42.5%YoY
Intelligent Decision Support

Systems that process data to provide personalized recommendations, predict events, or automate decision-making processes based on learned patterns, user behavior, or environmental factors.

Databases & Information Retrieval
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237since 2023
-4.5%YoY
MLOps & Model Deployment

Systems and methods for automating the lifecycle of machine learning models, including pipeline deployment, model management, versioning, and configuring for different inference environments.

Machine Learning & AI
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208since 2023
+53.1%YoY
Quantum Machine Learning

Developing and applying machine learning algorithms that leverage quantum computing principles, such as quantum circuits or autoencoders, for tasks like simulation or data processing.

Machine Learning & AI
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196since 2023
+36.6%YoY
Secure Data Storage & Provenance

Techniques for protecting data at rest or in backup, ensuring its integrity, confidentiality, and verifiable origin, often involving encryption, unique identifiers, or secure repositories.

Computer SecurityNetwork Security & Access Control
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185since 2023
-31.4%YoY
Multi-Sensor Imaging & Synthesis

Systems that combine data from multiple camera sensors or capture multiple images from different perspectives or qualities, often involving image processing techniques like synthesis to create enhanced or comprehensive views.

Pictorial / Video Communications
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176since 2023
-40.7%YoY
Specialized Neural Network Architectures

Development and optimization of novel neural network layers or architectures specifically designed to improve performance or efficiency for computer vision tasks.

Computer Vision
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167since 2023
-42.0%YoY
Vision-Based Object & Pose Estimation

Methods and apparatus for detecting objects and determining their three-dimensional position and orientation (pose) using imagery or point cloud data, often for navigation, surveying, or environmental understanding.

Computer Vision
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143since 2023
-16.7%YoY
Interactive 3D Data Visualization

Methods and systems for displaying complex data in three-dimensional graphical formats, allowing users to manipulate, explore, and derive insights from the data through interactive controls.

Input/Output & User Interfaces
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141since 2023
0.0%YoY
Automated Fault Response

Involves systems designed to automatically detect errors or failures and initiate predefined or intelligent corrective actions, recovery procedures, or notifications to minimize downtime and manual intervention.

System Reliability & Diagnostics
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125since 2023
+18.2%YoY
Multimodal Data Fusion

Techniques for combining and analyzing information from multiple distinct data modalities (e.g., text, image, video, audio, sensor data) to derive richer insights or improve system performance and decision-making.

Databases & Information RetrievalMachine Learning & AINatural Language Processing
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120since 2023
+12.1%YoY
Workflow Automation & Orchestration

Systems and methods for automating multi-step tasks, business processes, or service interactions, often involving AI agents, programmable interfaces, or formal orchestration languages to streamline operations.

Operating Systems & Program Control
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116since 2023
+140.0%YoY
Data Resiliency & Recovery

Encompasses strategies and technologies to ensure the availability, integrity, and recoverability of data and systems, including robust backup, replication, error correction, and efficient data restoration.

System Reliability & Diagnostics
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112since 2023
-6.2%YoY
Multi-modal Sensor Fusion

Techniques for combining data from disparate sensor types (e.g., cameras, radar, mobile device signals) to achieve a more robust and comprehensive understanding of an environment or subject, often leveraging machine learning for interpretation and correlation.

Computer Vision
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112since 2023
-33.3%YoY
AI for Medical Diagnostics

Utilizing machine learning, particularly deep learning, to analyze medical data such as images, sensor readings, or physiological signals for disease prediction, diagnosis, or treatment assessment.

Machine Learning & AIComputer VisionImage Processing
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106since 2023
0.0%YoY
Cloud-Native & Microservice Management

Technologies for deploying, managing, and governing applications and services in cloud environments, particularly focusing on containerization, microservice architectures, API gateways, and distributed data management.

Operating Systems & Program Control
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95since 2023
+27.3%YoY
Federated & Distributed ML

Methods for training machine learning models across multiple decentralized devices or servers while keeping data localized, often involving aggregation of model parameters and secure communication.

Machine Learning & AI
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84since 2023
+29.4%YoY
Secure Communication Protocols

Technologies for establishing and maintaining secure communication channels between devices or networks, often employing encryption, secure protocols, or virtual private networks (VPNs).

Network Security & Access Control
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82since 2023
+13.6%YoY
Real-time Graphics Rendering

Techniques and hardware architectures designed to efficiently generate and display complex 3D graphics, particularly for interactive applications like virtual reality, focusing on speed and visual quality.

Image Processing
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74since 2023
0.0%YoY
Automated Visual Inspection

Systems that employ imaging and image processing to automatically detect defects, verify states, or ensure quality control in manufactured goods, printed materials, or industrial processes.

Pictorial / Video Communications
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48since 2023
+30.0%YoY
Compliance & Transaction Validation

Systems and methods designed to ensure adherence to regulatory rules, corporate policies, or contractual agreements, often involving automated validation of electronic transactions, smart contract enforcement, or API governance.

Operating Systems & Program Control
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47since 2023
-21.1%YoY
Sensor-based Environment Perception

Techniques and hardware for autonomous systems to gather and interpret data about their surroundings, including obstacle detection, object recognition, and depth estimation, to inform control decisions.

Computer Vision
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47since 2023
-54.5%YoY
Digital Asset Management

Technologies for securing, managing, and transacting with virtual currencies, non-fungible tokens (NFTs), and other blockchain-based digital assets, including hardware wallets and tokenization schemes for various purposes.

Business Methods & Fintech
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33since 2023
-9.1%YoY
Automated Transaction Systems

Systems designed to streamline and automate various commercial transactions, including mobile-enhanced processes, secure online checkouts, customer service interactions, and privilege issuance, often leveraging digital authentication.

Business Methods & Fintech
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19since 2023
+33.3%YoY
Autonomous Path Planning

Algorithms and systems for generating, optimizing, and executing trajectories for autonomous vehicles or robots to move through an environment, often involving obstacle avoidance, route validation, and goal reaching.

Image Processing
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19since 2023
-40.0%YoY
3D Reconstruction & Modeling

Processes for creating or manipulating three-dimensional digital representations of objects or environments, including mesh generation, surface fitting, and depth estimation from multiple views.

Image Processing
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17since 2023
+20.0%YoY
Software & Infrastructure Quality Assurance

Focuses on establishing and enforcing quality standards for software development, deployment, and infrastructure configuration, utilizing automated validation, testing, and governance frameworks.

System Reliability & Diagnostics
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12since 2023
-20.0%YoY
Geospatial Intelligence

Technologies that process, analyze, and leverage geographic information system (GIS) data, location data, and spatial analytics for applications such as monitoring, navigation, and environmental assessment.

Databases & Information Retrieval
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7since 2023
+200.0%YoY
Operational Technology (OT) Security

Specialized cybersecurity solutions designed to protect industrial control systems (ICS), SCADA networks, and other operational technology environments from cyber threats and unauthorized access.

Computer Security
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1since 2023
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Patents

Showing 1111-1120 of 1189

Video Quality & Encoding Optimization
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