Meta was founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg, Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin Moskovitz, and Chris Hughes and is doing business in Social media, Social network advertising, and Consumer electronics. The Company offers a range of merchandise and services to its customers, including consumer electronics, appliances, computing devices, mobile phones, entertainment, and other products. As of October 2021, Meta has a market cap of $915.2 Billion.
Meta has a total of 17753 patents globally, out of which 10395 have been granted. Of these 17753 patents, more than 84% patents are active. The United States of America is where Meta has filed the maximum number of patents, followed by China and Australia and it also seems reasonable as the biggest market for Meta in the United States, in which it generated $85.97 billion revenue in 2020. Parallelly, United States seems to be the main focused R&D center and is also the origin country of Meta.
Do read about some of the most popular patents of Meta which have been covered by us in this article and also you can find Meta’s patents information, the worldwide patent filing activity and its patent filing trend over the years, and many other stats over Meta’s patent portfolio.
How many patents does Meta have?
Meta has a total of 17753 patents globally. These patents belong to 6970 unique patent families. Out of 17753 patents, 15054 patents are active.
How many Meta patents are Alive/Dead?
Worldwide Patents
Patent Families
How Many Patents did Meta File Every Year?
Are you wondering why there is a drop in patent filing for the last two years? It is because a patent application can take up to 18 months to get published. Certainly, it doesn’t suggest a decrease in the patent filing.
You can also read our analysis on, How many patent applications did Meta Abandon? (2000-2020).
| Year of Patents Filing or Grant | Meta Applications Filed | Meta Patents Granted |
| 2021 | 24 | 401 |
| 2020 | 826 | 1630 |
| 2019 | 1617 | 1891 |
| 2018 | 1850 | 1368 |
| 2017 | 2365 | 1352 |
| 2016 | 1858 | 916 |
| 2015 | 1662 | 548 |
| 2014 | 2158 | 367 |
| 2013 | 1425 | 200 |
| 2012 | 1215 | 150 |
| 2011 | 528 | 251 |
How Many Patents did Meta File in Different Countries?
Countries in which Meta Filed Patents
| Country | Patents |
| United States Of America | 10529 |
| China | 836 |
| Australia | 799 |
| Japan | 768 |
| Europe | 696 |
| Korea (South) | 664 |
| Canada | 615 |
| Israel | 390 |
| India | 308 |
| Mexico | 281 |
| Brazil | 269 |
| Taiwan | 116 |
| United Kingdom | 31 |
| South Africa | 22 |
| Germany | 11 |
| Spain | 4 |
| Austria | 3 |
| Singapore | 3 |
| Hong Kong (S.A.R.) | 2 |
| Poland | 2 |
| Indonesia | 1 |
| Philippines | 1 |
| Russian Federation | 1 |
Where are Research Centers of Meta Patents Located?
10 Best Meta Patents
US7024451B2 is the most popular patent in the Meta portfolio. It has received 1337 citations so far from companies like IBM, Pure Storage and Aloft Media.
Below is the list of 10 most cited patents of Meta:
| Publication Number | Citation Count |
| US7024451B2 | 1337 |
| US6014638A | 1320 |
| US7069308B2 | 1230 |
| US6236978B1 | 1185 |
| US6414635B1 | 926 |
| US6012051A | 777 |
| US7827208B2 | 763 |
| US7945653B2 | 731 |
| US6754904B1 | 721 |
| US6714793B1 | 669 |
Which Companies are using Meta Patents to Advance their Research?
If patents or patents from a particular technology area of a company receive a lot of citations, it implies that the technology is being followed and incrementally innovated by the citing companies. It also indicates that citing companies are working on similar and closely related technologies.
The top companies in the Meta patent portfolio are Microsoft, IBM and Google.
List of the top forward citing Companies –
| Company | Number of Patents |
| Microsoft | 1046 |
| IBM | 1013 |
| 754 | |
| Samsung | 373 |
| Apple | 243 |
| Sony | 182 |
| Intel | 173 |
| Tencent Technology Shenzhen Company Limited | 161 |
| Amazon | 119 |
| Qualcomm | 110 |
Count of 102 and 103 Type Rejections based on Meta Patents
Top Meta Patents used in Rejecting Most Patent Applications
| Patent Number | Count of Rejected Applications |
| US8229458B2 | 181 |
| US8230367B2 | 78 |
| US9177346B2 | 77 |
| US7669123B2 | 76 |
| US9119027B2 | 65 |
| US7945653B2 | 59 |
| US20050160014A1 | 52 |
| US9602605B2 | 50 |
| US7933810B2 | 45 |
| US9110953B2 | 44 |
| US7869941B2 | 44 |
| US7069308B2 | 44 |
| US7941753B2 | 43 |
| US8880600B2 | 36 |
| US8171128B2 | 35 |
| US8694577B2 | 34 |
| US9143573B2 | 32 |
| US8521661B2 | 32 |
| US8527496B2 | 31 |
| US9660950B2 | 30 |
What Percentage of Meta US Patent Applications were Granted?
Meta (Excluding its subsidiaries) has filed 8404 patent applications at USPTO so far (Excluding Design and PCT applications). Out of these 6563 have been granted leading to a grant rate of 86.13%.
Below are the key stats of Meta patent prosecution at the USPTO. You can also check the performance of FAANG at the USPTO here.
Which Law Firms Filed Most US Patents for Meta?
| Law Firm | Total Applications | Success Rate |
| Fenwick & West Llp | 1828 | 84.86% |
| Keller Jolley Preece | 1404 | 83.37% |
| Baker Botts Llp | 1135 | 87.09% |
| Fisherbroyles Llp | 993 | 94.78% |
| Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton Llp | 613 | 73.38% |
| IBM Corporation | 256 | 100.00% |
| Morgan Lewis & Bockius Llp | 250 | 87.00% |
| Kacvinsky Daisak Bluni Pllc | 201 | 82.45% |
| Weaver Austin Villeneuve & Sampson Llp | 189 | 93.89% |
| Van Pelt Yi & James Llp | 108 | 95.60% |
Innovation pushes the boundaries for all of technology. Meta caused us to reconsider everything we thought we understood about social media. It started off as a social network, and when a solution wasn’t available, they turned to invention. Today, Meta is working on hardware projects, AI, connectivity, commerce, Meta Reality Labs, and a variety of other projects.
“Move fast and break things,” and “Done is better than perfect.” summarises Meta’s approach to innovation which includes launching new features without first obtaining user consent. Next time login to your Meta and enjoy the platform to the fullest, do give a thumbs up to this post too.
What are Meta’s key innovation segments? What can you expect next?
What Technologies are Covered by Meta Patents?
The chart below distributes patents filed by Meta in different countries on the basis of the technology protected in patents. It also represents the markets where Meta thinks it’s important to protect particular technology inventions.
R&D Focus: How Meta Research Focus Changed Over the Years?
Interested in knowing about the areas of innovation that are being protected by Meta?
Authored By: Navjyot Singh, Insights;Gate Team