Facebook’s Augmented Reality Push Causes Leap in U.S. Patents

Social media company received 64% more patents than a year ago
Company’s focus on headsets ‘very serious,’ an analyst said

Image from Facebook’s virtual reality patent No. 10,466,484, one of a growing number the company received from the U.S. patent office last year.Source: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office

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By Christopher Yasiejko and Sarah Frier

January 14, 2020 at 7:08 PM UTC

This article is for subscribers only.

Facebook Inc. may have been slow to adapt to the mobile-device revolution, but an analysis of patents granted suggests the company is determined not to miss the next seismic digital shift.

The Menlo Park, California-based social media company won 64% more patents in 2019 than in 2018, according to an analysis of figures from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office by Fairview Research’s IFI Patent Claims Services. Facebook’s total of 989 patents last year was more than triple the amount it received just five years earlier -- it got 279 in 2014.