H04M 3/4285
Notifying, informing or entertaining a held party while on hold
Official title: {Notifying, informing or entertaining a held party while on hold, e.g. Music On Hold}
H04M3/4285 (Notifying, informing or entertaining a held party while on hold) appears on 330 US grants and 272 published applications in this corpus.
Search patents in H04M- Granted patents
- 330
- Published applications
- 272
- Assignees
- 164
- Inventors
- 673
- Latest grant
- 7 Jul 2026
Filings by year
| Year | Granted patents | Published applications |
|---|---|---|
| 1976 | 1 | 0 |
| 1977 | 0 | 0 |
| 1978 | 1 | 0 |
| 1979 | 1 | 0 |
| 1980 | 1 | 0 |
| 1981 | 0 | 0 |
| 1982 | 0 | 0 |
| 1983 | 1 | 0 |
| 1984 | 3 | 0 |
| 1985 | 0 | 0 |
| 1986 | 2 | 0 |
| 1987 | 0 | 0 |
| 1988 | 1 | 0 |
| 1989 | 0 | 0 |
| 1990 | 2 | 0 |
| 1991 | 1 | 0 |
| 1992 | 0 | 0 |
| 1993 | 0 | 0 |
| 1994 | 1 | 0 |
| 1995 | 0 | 0 |
| 1996 | 3 | 0 |
| 1997 | 3 | 0 |
| 1998 | 6 | 0 |
| 1999 | 13 | 0 |
| 2000 | 6 | 0 |
| 2001 | 9 | 6 |
| 2002 | 15 | 16 |
| 2003 | 11 | 17 |
| 2004 | 20 | 15 |
| 2005 | 12 | 10 |
| 2006 | 15 | 13 |
| 2007 | 15 | 25 |
| 2008 | 6 | 15 |
| 2009 | 7 | 11 |
| 2010 | 9 | 11 |
| 2011 | 13 | 12 |
| 2012 | 14 | 14 |
| 2013 | 17 | 11 |
| 2014 | 20 | 7 |
| 2015 | 10 | 17 |
| 2016 | 13 | 13 |
| 2017 | 11 | 5 |
| 2018 | 8 | 8 |
| 2019 | 9 | 9 |
| 2020 | 18 | 8 |
| 2021 | 9 | 11 |
| 2022 | 9 | 6 |
| 2023 | 7 | 7 |
| 2024 | 2 | 2 |
| 2025 | 3 | 3 |
| 2026 | 2 | 0 |
By publication year. Applications have been published since 2001. 2026 runs to 8 Oct.
Recent patents
- Phone user interface7 Jul 2026US 12,676,927 B2Apple Inc.
- On-hold experience26 May 2026US 12,641,179 B1United Services Automobile Association (USAA)
- Call prompt method, call device, readable storage medium, and chip system18 Nov 2025US 12,477,060 B2Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd.
- Methods and apparatus for bypassing holds2 Sep 2025US 12,407,776 B2Google Inc.
- Enhanced call waiting for user equipment4 Feb 2025US 12,219,091 B2T-Mobile Innovations LLC
- Methods and apparatus for bypassing holds18 Dec 2025US 2025/0385968 A1Google Inc.
- Method for operating a device or a network server implementing a communication hold service6 Feb 2025US 2025/0047782 A1
- System and method for providing an enhanced feature for a caller ring back tone9 Jan 2025US 2025/0016212 A1Jio Platforms Limited
- Methods and apparatus for bypassing holds10 Oct 2024US 2024/0340373 A1Google Inc.
- Management of an on-hold call based on a user's participation in an activity on their endpoint1 Feb 2024US 2024/0040034 A1Avaya Management L.P.
Most cited
By later US patents
- Multimedia collaboration system with separate data network and A/V network controlled by information transmitting on the data network741US 5,617,539 AVicor Corporation · 1997
- Call management system with call control from user workstation computers734US 5,946,386 AXantel Corporation · 1999
- Call control in video conferencing allowing acceptance and identification of participants in a new incoming call during an active teleconference595US 5,758,079 AVicor Corporation · 1998
- Multimedia collaboration system arrangement for routing compressed AV signal through a participant site without decompressing the AV signal566US 5,689,641 AVicor Corporation · 1997
- Method and apparatus permitting notification and control of blocked incoming calls over a data network507US 5,809,128 AInteractive Telecom Inc. · 1998