USPTO 2015–2025 USPTO PatentsView US Corporation

Microsoft Corporation

USPTO PatentsView assignee record - 1,880 granted patents across 55 technology areas, active 2015–2025. 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

1,880

Total patents granted

CPC technology areas

5.7

Avg claims per patent

-88%

5-year filing velocity

The verdict

Microsoft holds 1,880 US patents across 55 technology areas, rank #215 of 50,000 tracked assignees.

#215
of 50,000 US assignees by volume: Top 3%
by Innovation Score (60.4/100): 5.7
avg claims per patent: -88%
filing velocity, last 5 yrs

Portfolio overview

Microsoft Corporation has been granted 1,880 US utility patents between 2015 and 2025, placing Microsoft Corporation at rank #215 across all assignees tracked by PlainPatent. This portfolio spans 55 distinct Cooperative Patent Classification (CPC) subclasses, averaging 5.7 claims per patent with primary concentration in G06F (ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING). As a US Corporation, Microsoft Corporation is one of the broader-portfolio assignees in the PatentsView dataset. By volume, Microsoft sits between Waymo Llc (1,901 patents, rank #211) and California Institute OF Technology (1,842 patents, rank #219) - the closest US assignees by grant volume. The composite Innovation Score of 60.4/100 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 207 grants, compared with 1,673 in the 2015–2019 window, a -88% 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. Microsoft Corporation's 5.7 average claims per patent suggests focused, narrowly drawn claims typical of single-invention filings, while a multi-domain presence across 55 subclasses balances depth with breadth. Combined with portfolio volume, these signals let analysts, investors, and licensing professionals benchmark Microsoft Corporation against peers pursuing similar technology classes.

Waymo

1,901
Bridgestone

1,895
L'oreal

1,890
Tsinghua Universi…

1,881
Microsoft ◀

1,880
Splunk

1,859
Compagnie General…

1,844
The Nielsen (US)

1,844
California Instit…

1,842

What this shows Microsoft holds 1,880 patents at rank #215, shown against the 8 assignees closest to it in grant volume rather than the industry's largest filers.

Companies ranked near Microsoft

By rank, the assignees closest to #215 in granted patent volume.

Leaders in G06F (Electric Digital DATA Processing)

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

Microsoft's Innovation Score vs. every tracked assignee

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

60 Top 3% higher than 97% 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 · 2015–2025

Grants by year

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

View data table

Microsoft Corporation patent grants by year, 2015–2025
Year	Patents Granted	Share of Period
2015	772	41.1%
2016	525	27.9%
2017	270	14.4%
2018	62	3.3%
2019	44	2.3%
2020	45	2.4%
2021	35	1.9%
2022	33	1.8%
2023	33	1.8%
2024	45	2.4%
2025	16	0.9%

Which technologies does Microsoft Corporation patent most?

G06F - ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING 330

H04L - TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION 136

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 44

H04W - WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS 39

G06T - IMAGE DATA PROCESSING OR GENERATION, IN GENERAL 39

H04N - PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION 36

H04M - TELEPHONIC COMMUNICATION 24

G06V - IMAGE OR VIDEO RECOGNITION OR UNDERSTANDING 18

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 15

G10L - SPEECH ANALYSIS TECHNIQUES OR SPEECH SYNTHESIS; SPEECH RECOGNITION; SPEECH OR VOICE PROCESSING TECHNIQUES; SPEECH OR AUDIO CODING OR DECODING 12

G09G - ARRANGEMENTS OR CIRCUITS FOR CONTROL OF INDICATING DEVICES USING STATIC MEANS TO PRESENT VARIABLE INFORMATION 11

G06N - COMPUTING ARRANGEMENTS BASED ON SPECIFIC COMPUTATIONAL MODELS 11

A63F - CARD, BOARD, OR ROULETTE GAMES; INDOOR GAMES USING SMALL MOVING PLAYING BODIES; VIDEO GAMES; GAMES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR 11

G02B - OPTICAL ELEMENTS, SYSTEMS OR APPARATUS 7

H04B - TRANSMISSION 7

Top 15 of 55 technology areas

Patent Moat Analysis

Portfolio Volume Strong

Tech Breadth Multi-domain

Claim Depth Simple

Velocity Declining

Where it ranks

Overall rank by patents

#215

Across all tracked assignees

Innovation Score

60.4 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 Microsoft Corporation hold?

Microsoft Corporation holds 1,880 US granted patents filed between 2015 and 2025, spanning 55 technology areas.

What is Microsoft Corporation's Innovation Score?

Microsoft Corporation has an Innovation Score of 60.4 out of 100. This composite metric weighs portfolio volume (40%), filing velocity (20%), technology breadth (25%), and claim depth (15%).

What technology areas does Microsoft Corporation focus on?

Microsoft Corporation's top technology area is G06F (ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING) with 330 patents. The company has filed patents in 55 CPC subclasses total.

Is Microsoft Corporation's patent filing rate increasing or decreasing?

Microsoft Corporation's recent filing velocity is -88% compared to the prior five-year period. Filing activity has slowed relative to earlier years.

What does claim depth mean for Microsoft Corporation's patents?

Microsoft Corporation's patents average 5.7 claims each. This is relatively simple claim structure, typical for focused inventions.

How is the Microsoft Corporation 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

Microsoft's 1,880 grants land it in the top 3% 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 - Microsoft ranks #215 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.