G06F 21/10
Protecting distributed programs or content
Official title: Protecting distributed programs or content, e.g. vending or licensing of copyrighted material (protection in video systems or pay television H04N7/16) {; Digital rights management [DRM]}
G06F21/10 (Protecting distributed programs or content) appears on 14,524 US grants and 18,554 published applications in this corpus.
Search patents in G06F- Granted patents
- 14,524
- Published applications
- 18,554
- Assignees
- 3,989
- Inventors
- 26,593
- Latest grant
- 6 Oct 2026
Filings by year
| Year | Granted patents | Published applications |
|---|---|---|
| 1978 | 1 | 0 |
| 1979 | 1 | 0 |
| 1980 | 0 | 0 |
| 1981 | 3 | 0 |
| 1982 | 1 | 0 |
| 1983 | 0 | 0 |
| 1984 | 8 | 0 |
| 1985 | 8 | 0 |
| 1986 | 9 | 0 |
| 1987 | 13 | 0 |
| 1988 | 10 | 0 |
| 1989 | 14 | 0 |
| 1990 | 8 | 0 |
| 1991 | 13 | 0 |
| 1992 | 13 | 0 |
| 1993 | 11 | 0 |
| 1994 | 21 | 0 |
| 1995 | 25 | 0 |
| 1996 | 34 | 0 |
| 1997 | 45 | 0 |
| 1998 | 75 | 0 |
| 1999 | 93 | 0 |
| 2000 | 86 | 0 |
| 2001 | 101 | 113 |
| 2002 | 100 | 503 |
| 2003 | 114 | 480 |
| 2004 | 161 | 597 |
| 2005 | 178 | 726 |
| 2006 | 304 | 801 |
| 2007 | 312 | 821 |
| 2008 | 322 | 916 |
| 2009 | 381 | 771 |
| 2010 | 530 | 706 |
| 2011 | 488 | 620 |
| 2012 | 623 | 733 |
| 2013 | 714 | 802 |
| 2014 | 972 | 905 |
| 2015 | 936 | 859 |
| 2016 | 820 | 798 |
| 2017 | 797 | 777 |
| 2018 | 705 | 753 |
| 2019 | 736 | 894 |
| 2020 | 769 | 895 |
| 2021 | 738 | 837 |
| 2022 | 739 | 790 |
| 2023 | 781 | 701 |
| 2024 | 685 | 667 |
| 2025 | 602 | 638 |
| 2026 | 424 | 451 |
By publication year. Applications have been published since 2001. 2026 runs to 8 Oct.
Subgroups
Granted patents
- G06F 21/12Protecting executable software3,670
- G06F 21/16Program or content traceability1,665
- G06F 21/105Arrangements for software license management or administration1,618
- G06F 21/107License processing1,307
- G06F 21/101By binding digital rights to specific entities1,127
- G06F 21/106Enforcing content protection by specific content processing998
- G06F 21/109By using specially-adapted hardware at the client450
- G06F 21/108Transfer of content, software, digital rights or licenses378
Recent patents
- Memory controller, storage device including the same, and operating method of the memory controller6 Oct 2026US 12,754,855 B2Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
- Validating a real-world object's digital twin6 Oct 2026US 12,754,978 B2Sony Interactive Entertainment Inc.
- Replicating software containers to model license needs6 Oct 2026US 12,754,979 B2International Business Machines Corporation
- Accelerating in-browser tasks of an unprivileged web application6 Oct 2026US 12,754,980 B2Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC
- System and method for policy enforcement6 Oct 2026US 12,754,981 B2Google Inc.
- Ethernet-attached ssd for automotive applications8 Oct 2026US 2026/0310613 A1Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
- System and Method for Organic, Multi_Dimensional Issuance and Management of Domain_Based Tokenized Assets to Enable a Global Green Organic Multi_system Economic Ecosystem8 Oct 2026US 2026/0310758 A1
- Authenticating ownership and transfer of assets using tokens8 Oct 2026US 2026/0310759 A1
- Processing a contingent action token securely8 Oct 2026US 2026/0310760 A12BC Innovations, LLC
- System and method for smart license automatic detach by cloud license manager service8 Oct 2026US 2026/0310761 A1Thales Dis Cpl USA, Inc.
Most cited
By later US patents
- Systems and methods for secure transaction management and electronic rights protection3,563US 5,892,900 AIntertrust Technologies Corporation · 1999
- Method and device for obtaining playlist content over a network1,821US 8,045,952 B2Horsham Enterprises, LLC · 2011
- Electronic content delivery system1,734US 6,226,618 B1International Business Machines Corporation · 2001
- System for controlling the distribution and use of digital works1,495US 5,629,980 AXerox Corporation · 1997
- System for controlling the distribution and use of digital works having attached usage rights where the usage rights are defined by a usage rights grammar1,464US 5,715,403 AXerox Corporation · 1998