USPTO 2015–2025 USPTO PatentsView US Corporation

Facebook, Inc.

USPTO PatentsView assignee record - 4,875 granted patents across 141 technology areas, active 2015–2024. Filing-trend and competitive-moat analysis cross-referenced to USPTO Patent Public Search. Primary class: G06F (ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING).

Compiled byPlainPatent Editorial, US Patent Intelligence Editorial Team · May 15, 2026

Explore the portfolio See the ranking

4,875

Total patents granted

141

CPC technology areas

18.8

Avg claims per patent

-49%

5-year filing velocity

The verdict

Facebook holds 4,875 US patents across 141 technology areas, rank #73 of 50,000 tracked assignees.

#73
of 50,000 US assignees by volume: Top 1%
by Innovation Score (65.8/100): 18.8
avg claims per patent: -49%
filing velocity, last 5 yrs

Portfolio overview

Facebook, Inc. has been granted 4,875 US utility patents between 2015 and 2024, placing Facebook, Inc. at rank #73 across all assignees tracked by PlainPatent. This portfolio spans 141 distinct Cooperative Patent Classification (CPC) subclasses, averaging 18.8 claims per patent with primary concentration in G06F (ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING). As a US Corporation, Facebook, Inc. is one of the broader-portfolio assignees in the PatentsView dataset. By volume, Facebook sits between Hewlett Packard Enterprise Development Lp (5,165 patents, rank #69) and Globalfoundries Inc. (4,547 patents, rank #77) - the closest US assignees by grant volume. The composite Innovation Score of 65.8/100 blends portfolio volume, filing velocity, technology breadth, and claim depth into a single comparable measure drawn directly from USPTO PatentsView records.

Filing cadence tells the strategic story. Between 2020 and 2025 the company received 1,654 grants, compared with 3,221 in the 2015–2019 window, a -49% shift in five-year velocity. A cooling filing rate may reflect portfolio consolidation, shifting priorities, or reduced R&D throughput. The US Corporation classification further shapes interpretation, since corporate, government, and individual filers pursue patents for materially different reasons.

Claim depth and technology breadth together indicate competitive posture. Facebook, Inc.'s 18.8 average claims per patent sits within the typical range for solid legal coverage without excessive prosecution cost, while a diversified footprint across 100+ CPC subclasses spreads risk across many technology fronts. Combined with portfolio volume, these signals let analysts, investors, and licensing professionals benchmark Facebook, Inc. against peers pursuing similar technology classes.

Hewlett Packard E…

5,165
Tokyo Electron

5,061
Bank of America

4,988
Vmware

4,914
Facebook ◀

4,875
Verizon Patent an…

4,862
Olympus

4,844
Schlumberger Tech…

4,606
Globalfoundries

4,547

What this shows Facebook holds 4,875 patents at rank #73, shown against the 8 assignees closest to it in grant volume rather than the industry's largest filers.

Companies ranked near Facebook

By rank, the assignees closest to #73 in granted patent volume.

Leaders in G06F (Electric Digital DATA Processing)

Other assignees with the most granted patents in Facebook's primary technology class.

Facebook's Innovation Score vs. every tracked assignee

Composite of portfolio volume, filing velocity, technology breadth, and claim depth (0–100)

66 Top 1% higher than 99% of 50,000 US assignees

Each bar is a band; taller bars hold more US assignees. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.

Source USPTO PatentsView, PlainPatent Innovation Score · 2015–2025

USPTO utility patent grants by year · 2015–2024

Grants by year

Teal-shaded recent years (2020–present) versus the 2015–2019 baseline. Full figures in the table below.

View data table

Facebook, Inc. patent grants by year, 2015–2025
Year	Patents Granted	Share of Period
2015	390	8.0%
2016	453	9.3%
2017	676	13.9%
2018	651	13.4%
2019	1,051	21.6%
2020	990	20.3%
2021	600	12.3%
2022	62	1.3%
2023	1	0.0%
2024	1	0.0%

Which technologies does Facebook, Inc. patent most?

G06F - ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING 2,657

H04L - TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION 2,281

G06Q - INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR 1,919

H04W - WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS 758

H04N - PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION 511

G06N - COMPUTING ARRANGEMENTS BASED ON SPECIFIC COMPUTATIONAL MODELS 439

G06T - IMAGE DATA PROCESSING OR GENERATION, IN GENERAL 375

G06V - IMAGE OR VIDEO RECOGNITION OR UNDERSTANDING 325

H04M - TELEPHONIC COMMUNICATION 168

H04B - TRANSMISSION 165

G10L - SPEECH ANALYSIS TECHNIQUES OR SPEECH SYNTHESIS; SPEECH RECOGNITION; SPEECH OR VOICE PROCESSING TECHNIQUES; SPEECH OR AUDIO CODING OR DECODING 114

H05K - PRINTED CIRCUITS; CASINGS OR CONSTRUCTIONAL DETAILS OF ELECTRIC APPARATUS; MANUFACTURE OF ASSEMBLAGES OF ELECTRICAL COMPONENTS 95

G11B - INFORMATION STORAGE BASED ON RELATIVE MOVEMENT BETWEEN RECORD CARRIER AND TRANSDUCER 91

Y02D - CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION TECHNOLOGIES IN INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES [ICT], I.E. INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES AIMING AT THE REDUCTION OF THEIR OWN ENERGY USE 81

G09G - ARRANGEMENTS OR CIRCUITS FOR CONTROL OF INDICATING DEVICES USING STATIC MEANS TO PRESENT VARIABLE INFORMATION 60

Top 15 of 141 technology areas

Patent Moat Analysis

Portfolio Volume Strong

Tech Breadth Diversified

Claim Depth Standard

Velocity Declining

Where it ranks

Overall rank by patents

#73

Across all tracked assignees

Innovation Score

65.8 out of 100

View all rankings →

Data Source

USPTO PatentsView, US granted patents 2015–2025

How is Innovation Score calculated?

Frequently Asked Questions

How many patents does Facebook, Inc. hold?

Facebook, Inc. holds 4,875 US granted patents filed between 2015 and 2024, spanning 141 technology areas.

What is Facebook, Inc.'s Innovation Score?

Facebook, Inc. has an Innovation Score of 65.8 out of 100. This composite metric weighs portfolio volume (40%), filing velocity (20%), technology breadth (25%), and claim depth (15%).

What technology areas does Facebook, Inc. focus on?

Facebook, Inc.'s top technology area is G06F (ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING) with 2,657 patents. The company has filed patents in 141 CPC subclasses total.

Is Facebook, Inc.'s patent filing rate increasing or decreasing?

Facebook, Inc.'s recent filing velocity is -49% compared to the prior five-year period. Filing activity has slowed relative to earlier years.

What does claim depth mean for Facebook, Inc.'s patents?

Facebook, Inc.'s patents average 18.8 claims each. This falls within the standard range, providing solid legal coverage.

How is the Facebook, Inc. patent data sourced?

All patent data comes from USPTO PatentsView, a public research dataset maintained by the United States Patent and Trademark Office covering US granted utility patents from 2015 to 2025.

How to use this portfolio

Facebook's 4,875 grants land it in the top 1% by Innovation Score, but volume alone doesn't tell you where the strength sits.

Read that count against the largest US assignees before treating it as dominance - Facebook ranks #73 of 50,000. Top 50 holders
Most of this portfolio concentrates in G06F - see who else leads that technology area. G06F leaders
Check what the four-part Innovation Score actually rewards before comparing it to another company. How the score works

Patent counts and the Innovation Score measure patenting activity, not commercial success or the legal strength of any patent. Many patents are filed defensively. Verify the status of an individual patent against official USPTO records.

Data sourced from USPTO PatentsView - official U.S. government patent data. See our methodology for computation details. Retrieved and formatted by PlainPatent Editorial

Disclaimer: This information is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute professional advice. Data is sourced from the USPTO PatentsView database. Consult a qualified professional before making decisions based on this data.

Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.

Data sources used on this page

USPTO PatentsView - the disambiguated bulk patent-grant, assignee, and CPC data this page's figures are derived from. patentsview.org
Cooperative Patent Classification (CPC) - the joint USPTO/EPO classification scheme used to group patents by technology area. cooperativepatentclassification.org
USPTO Patent Public Search - the official interface to verify the status of any individual patent. ppubs.uspto.gov

Compiled byPlainPatent Editorial, US Patent Intelligence Editorial Team · May 15, 2026

Every figure on PlainPatent is rendered directly from USPTO source data, no number is typed in by an editor. This page draws directly on USPTO source data, no figure is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of May 2026.