259 patents currently held
786 more in force are now held by other companies
Held is read from USPTO's recorded assignments; a transfer never recorded there does not appear.
24 more records may belong here and await a decision; they are not counted.
The next term ends in Nov 2026. from the record
Of the 786 now held by other companies, 725 name Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC as their current owner, and 61 more name another party. Each row says which.
Free plan: 3 watched companies. Pro: unlimited.
Alerts on its grants, lapses and transfers.
140
Ending by 2030
Nov 2026
Next term end
204
Patent families
When these terms end
Held patents by the year their term ends
notable patents
fee due within 90 days
all others
Updated Nov 15, 2026 · includes USPTO assignment & status data published Nov 15, 2026 and grant & fee data published Nov 10, 2026 (weekly) · how we know
Notable: the highest-ranked patents in this portfolio by citations and family size. Fee due within 90 days: a maintenance fee is due within 90 days of when this page was computed and not yet paid.
Notable patents
Ranked by citations and family size, against patents of the same kind granted the same year. How we rank
Notable
Ends no later than Nov 2029 · Low confidence
Also notable
Ends Nov 2027 · High confidence
Also notable
Ends Feb 2027 · High confidence
Using Speech Recognition Results Based on an Unstructured Language Model in a Mobile Communication Facility Application
US 8,886,540
Cited by 376 later US patents, top 1% of utility patents granted in 2014 in our data, and renewed at 2 of 3 maintenance windows. Protection runs to 2029. A terminal disclaimer is on file and its reference is not resolved, so no cap is applied and the date may move earlier, never later.
Multimodal Disambiguation of Speech Recognition
US 7,881,936
Cited by 888 later US patents, top 1% of utility patents granted in 2011 in our data, and renewed at 3 of 3 maintenance windows. Protection runs to 2027.
System and Method for Selecting and Presenting Advertisements Based on Natural Language Processing of Voice-Based Input
US 8,145,489
Cited by 707 later US patents, top 1% of utility patents granted in 2012 in our data, and renewed at 3 of 3 maintenance windows. Protection runs to 2027. A terminal disclaimer caps this term to an earlier patent's.
Formerly held, still cited
Notable
Ends no later than Oct 2027 · Low confidence
Cited by 544 later US patents, top 1% of utility patents granted in 2015 in our data, and renewed at every maintenance window due so far. Protection runs to 2027. A terminal disclaimer is on file and its reference is not resolved, so no cap is applied and the date may move earlier, never later.
now held by Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC
Also notable
Ends Feb 2031 · High confidence
Cited by 386 later US patents, top 1% of utility patents granted in 2018 in our data, and renewed at every maintenance window due so far. Protection runs to 2031. A terminal disclaimer caps this term to an earlier patent's.
now held by Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC
Also notable
Ends Feb 2027 · Medium confidence
Cited by 452 later US patents, top 1% of utility patents granted in 2015 in our data, and renewed at 3 of 3 maintenance windows. Protection runs to 2027.
now held by Cerence Operating Company
Fee deadlines
Maintenance fees fall due 3.5, 7.5 and 11.5 years after grant. A missed fee ends a patent at the end of the six month grace period that follows, not on the due date.
- 4 fees due Dec 9 to 30, 2026 · next Dec 9
- 2 fees due Jan 7, 2027
- 4 fees due Feb 11 to 18, 2027 · next Feb 11
- 2 fees due Mar 3 to 8, 2027 · next Mar 3
- 3 fees due Apr 20 to 24, 2027 · next Apr 20
- 3 fees due May 12 to 19, 2027 · next May 12
- 3 fees due Jun 1 to 30, 2027 · next Jun 1
- 2 fees due Jul 14 to 19, 2027 · next Jul 14
- 4 fees due Aug 16 to 23, 2027 · next Aug 16
- 4 fees due Sep 1 to 22, 2027 · next Sep 1
- 2 fees due Oct 5 to 28, 2027 · next Oct 5
- 2 fees due Nov 10 to 12, 2027 · next Nov 10
Recent changes
- 2 of the patents on this record were granted since Aug 17, 2026
- 46 terms have ended since Aug 17, 2026
What they patent
The 5 largest of its 204 families, grouped by real patent family and labeled by the earliest filing in each. No technology classification is inferred from titles.
Patents held now
Soonest term end first.
| Patent | Title | Status | Expires | Confidence |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US 7,490,042 | Methods and Apparatus for Adapting Output Speech in Accordance with Context of Communication In force · High confidence | In force | High confidence | |
| US 8,825,694 | Mobile Device Retrieval and Navigation held by Cerence Operating Company In force · High confidence | In force | High confidence | |
| US 7,706,616 | System and Method for Recognizing Word Patterns in a Very Large Vocabulary Based on a Virtual Keyboard Layout In force · High confidence | In force | High confidence | |
| US 8,032,377 | Grapheme to Phoneme Alignment Method and Relative Rule-Set Generating System In force · High confidence | In force | High confidence | |
| US 7,562,019 | Automated Testing of Voice Recognition Software In force · High confidence | In force | High confidence | |
| US 8,849,669 | System for Tuning Synthesized Speech In force · Medium confidence | In force | Medium confidence | |
| US 7,554,465 | Sampling Rate Conversion System In force · Medium confidence | In force | Medium confidence | |
| US 7,797,157 | Automatic Speech Recognition Channel Normalization Based on Measured Statistics from Initial Portions of Speech Utterances In force · High confidence | In force | High confidence | |
| US 8,145,489 | System and Method for Selecting and Presenting Advertisements Based on Natural Language Processing of Voice-Based Input In force · High confidence | In force | High confidence | |
| US 8,886,536 | System and Method for Delivering Targeted Advertisements and Tracking Advertisement Interactions in Voice Recognition Contexts In force · High confidence | In force | High confidence |
Also on record, not counted in the 259: 786 patents in force now held by others · 1,774 patents ended · 25 applications pending · 441 applications abandoned. List them
Sources and methods
Compiled from USPTO application file histories, grants and recorded assignments, with the company's own names reviewed by hand. How this record was built
Portfolio grouped automatically from ownership conveyances to the names matched to this company, usually every name that begins with its own, so it counts patents an affiliate holds; each list row names the holder of record. Security interests are excluded and ambiguous records are not reviewed by hand.
Fee due within 90 days marks a patent with a maintenance fee due within 90 days of the date this page was computed and not yet recorded paid, so it can end earlier than the bar shows. A fee left unpaid ends the patent at the close of the six month grace period that follows its due date, not on the due date itself. It is not a prediction that the fee will be missed.
Computed patent terms end on the dates shown. Related patents and pending applications may cover overlapping subject matter.