89 patents currently held

68 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.

19 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 68 now held by other companies, 49 name Saturn Licensing LLC as their current owner, and 19 more name another party. Each row says which.

Free plan: 3 watched companies. Pro: unlimited.

Alerts on its grants, lapses and transfers.

Ending by 2030

Nov 2026

Next term end

Patent families

When these terms end

5 yrs10 yrs20 yrs

Held patents by the year their term ends

2026 2027 2028 2029 2030 2031 2032 2033 2034 20352036203720382039204020412042204320442045

notable patents fee due within 90 days all others Updated Nov 14, 2026 · includes USPTO assignment & status data published Nov 14, 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

Clustering and Classification of Multimedia Data US 7,774,288

Cited by 27 later US patents, top 25% of utility patents granted in 2010 in our data, and renewed at 3 of 3 maintenance windows. Protection runs to 2026.

Ends Dec 2026 · High confidence Also notable

Method and Apparatus for Providing a Customized Selection of Audio Content Over the Internet US 7,739,335

Cited by 31 later US patents, top 25% of utility patents granted in 2010 in our data, and renewed at 3 of 3 maintenance windows. Protection runs to 2028.

Ends Nov 2028 · High confidence Also notable

Method and System for Downloading Content to a Content Downloader US 8,424,041

Cited by 46 later US patents, top 25% of utility patents granted in 2013 in our data, and renewed at 3 of 3 maintenance windows. Protection runs to 2028.

Ends Dec 2028 · High confidence

Formerly held, still cited

Notable

Multi-Coded Content Substitution US 8,392,942

Cited by 125 later US patents, top 5% of utility patents granted in 2013 in our data, and renewed at 3 of 3 maintenance windows. Protection runs to 2031.

now held by InterDigital Patent Holdings, Inc.

Ends Nov 2031 · High confidence

Also notable

User Interface with Thin Display Device US 7,692,635

Cited by 84 later US patents, top 10% of utility patents granted in 2010 in our data, and renewed at 3 of 3 maintenance windows. Protection runs to 2028.

now held by Saturn Licensing LLC

Ends Jul 2028 · High confidence

Also notable

Non-Real Time Services US 8,099,752

Cited by 27 later US patents, top 25% of utility patents granted in 2012 in our data, and renewed at 3 of 3 maintenance windows. Protection runs to 2030.

now held by Saturn Licensing LLC

Ends Aug 2030 · High confidence

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.

2 fees due Dec 2 to 16, 2026 · next Dec 2
3 fees due Jan 7 to 16, 2027 · next Jan 7
2 fees due Feb 18 to 25, 2027 · next Feb 18
3 fees due Mar 1 to 29, 2027 · next Mar 1
2 fees due Apr 6 to 13, 2027 · next Apr 6
1 fee due Nov 12, 2027
The maintenance fee for Reception Apparatus, Reception Method, Program, and Information Processing System (US 10,652,609) comes due Nov 12, 2027. Unpaid by May 12, 2028, it lapses early.

Which patents, and when each one lapses · Pro

Recent changes

12 terms have ended since Aug 16, 2026

What they patent

The 5 largest of its 85 families, grouped by real patent family and labeled by the earliest filing in each. No technology classification is inferred from titles.

Bayer-Consistent Raw Scaling	2 in force	to Sep 2034
CMOS Image Sensor Implementing Correlated Double Sampling with Compression	2 in force	to Jan 2034
Retail Outlet TV Feature Display System	2 in force	to Mar 2033
Client Device, Information Processing System and Associated Methodology of Accessing Networked Services	2 in force	to Jul 2029
Image Sensor with Floating Diffusion Interconnect Capacitor	1 in force	to Jul 2034

Patents held now

Soonest term end first.

Patent	Title	Status	Expires	Confidence
US 9,003,439	System and Method for Internet TV and Broadcast Advertisements held by Sony Corporation and Sony Electronics Inc. In force Ends no later than Nov 27, 2026 · Medium confidence	In force	Ends no later than Nov 27, 2026	Medium confidence
US 7,466,367	Mobile TV System and Method with Fast Channel Change held by Sony Corporation and Sony Electronics Inc. In force Term ends Dec 4, 2026 · High confidence	In force	Term ends Dec 4, 2026	High confidence
US 7,747,255	System and Method for Dynamic Bandwidth Estimation of Network Links held by Sony Corporation and Sony Electronics Inc. In force Term ends Dec 19, 2026 · High confidence	In force	Term ends Dec 19, 2026	High confidence
US 7,774,288	Clustering and Classification of Multimedia Data held by Sony Corporation and Sony Electronics Inc. In force Term ends Dec 27, 2026 · High confidence	In force	Term ends Dec 27, 2026	High confidence
US 7,568,042	Networked Local Media Cache Engine held by Sony Corporation and Sony Electronics, Inc. In force Term ends Dec 30, 2026 · High confidence	In force	Term ends Dec 30, 2026	High confidence
US 7,428,747	Secure Channel Reservation held by Sony Corporation, a Japanese Corporation and Sony Electronics Inc. a Delaware Corporation In force Term ends Jan 14, 2027 · High confidence	In force	Term ends Jan 14, 2027	High confidence
US 7,567,271	Shared Color Sensors for High-Resolution 3-D Camera held by Sony Corporation and Sony Electronics Inc. In force Term ends Jan 22, 2027 · High confidence	In force	Term ends Jan 22, 2027	High confidence
US 7,840,568	Sorting Media Objects by Similarity held by Sony Corporation and Sony Electronics Inc. In force Term ends Jan 26, 2027 · High confidence	In force	Term ends Jan 26, 2027	High confidence
US 7,551,606	Isochronous Transmission for IP-Oriented Network held by Sony Corporation and Sony Electronics Inc. In force Term ends Jan 28, 2027 · High confidence	In force	Term ends Jan 28, 2027	High confidence
US 8,959,145	System And Method For Preloading Content Segments To Client Devices In An Electronic Network held by Sony Corporation In force Term ends Feb 27, 2027 · Medium confidence	In force	Term ends Feb 27, 2027	Medium confidence

10 of 89 patents shown.

Pro members see all 89.

Pro members: see all 89 patents

Also on record, not counted in the 89: 68 patents in force now held by others · 1,257 patents ended · 1 application pending · 742 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.

Export every term end as CSV · Pro

Sony Electronics Inc.