Company patents

SHOPIFY INC.

Shopify Inc.'s patent strategy reveals a strong, albeit declining, focus on "Business Methods & Fintech," which constitutes nearly half (49.9%) of its portfolio but has seen a significant drop of 13.4% in 2025 and a sharp 62.0% decrease so far in 2026. Surprisingly, despite this decline in its core area, the company showed an emerging focus on "Natural Language Processing," with a remarkable 150.0% growth in 2024, indicating a strategic shift towards AI-driven communication technologies.

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.

551 US filings (since 2023) · 12 categories · 37 themes

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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78since 2023
-17.2%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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69since 2023
-11.1%YoY
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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67since 2023
+25.0%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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53since 2023
-6.2%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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49since 2023
-60.0%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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47since 2023
+54.5%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 ControlWeb & Cloud Service Protocols
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36since 2023
-7.7%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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31since 2023
+11.1%YoY
Video Quality & Encoding Optimization

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.

Computer Vision
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25since 2023
+83.3%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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24since 2023
-41.7%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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24since 2023
-69.2%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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24since 2023
-62.5%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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22since 2023
+200.0%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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17since 2023
-14.3%YoY
Granular Data Encryption & Access Control

Systems and methods for encrypting data at a fine-grained level (e.g., per data unit or based on sensitivity) and controlling access to it, often involving delegated authorization, contextual policies, or secure data sharing.

Cryptographic Mechanisms
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16since 2023
-16.7%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.

Computer VisionImage Processing
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14since 2023
+33.3%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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12since 2023
+200.0%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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10since 2023
+300.0%YoY
Blockchain for Secure Transactions & Identity

Focuses on using distributed ledger technology (DLT) like blockchain to secure financial transactions, manage digital identities, or ensure data integrity and traceability across various applications.

Cryptographic Mechanisms
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10since 2023
-50.0%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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9since 2023
+200.0%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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8since 2023
0.0%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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8since 2023
-50.0%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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7since 2023
new
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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6since 2023
0.0%YoY
Real-time Graphics Renderingfiltered

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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5since 2023
+50.0%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.

Computer Vision
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5since 2023
0.0%YoY
Remote Software/Firmware Updates

Systems and methods for securely and reliably delivering, installing, and managing software or firmware updates to distributed or embedded devices, often considering network conditions, resource constraints, or storage repartitioning.

Software Development & Compilers
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5since 2023
+100.0%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 & AI
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4since 2023
new
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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4since 2023
+100.0%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.

Cryptographic Mechanisms
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3since 2023
+300.0%YoY
Automated Dependency Management

Techniques and tools for automatically identifying, resolving, building, and packaging software dependencies, including managing versions, branches, and ensuring the integrity and security of the dependency chain.

Software Development & Compilers
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2since 2023
0.0%YoY
Compiler Optimization & Code Analysis

Techniques employed within compilers or related tools to analyze program code, identify entities for compilation, and optimize execution on target hardware, including reconfigurable systems, to improve performance or resource efficiency.

Software Development & Compilers
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2since 2023
0.0%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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2since 2023
n/a
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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2since 2023
n/a
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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1since 2023
new
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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1since 2023
new
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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1since 2023
n/a

Patents

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