Patents expiring soon

A 2006 system that uses a mobile phone to receive and relay a unique, temporary ID code to a store terminal to verify and authorize a payment transaction.

17

citations

A power-saving method for touchscreens that puts the main processor to sleep when not in use and wakes it up only when a touch is detected.

21

citations

Apple's patent describes a way for touchscreens to adjust the timing of internal electrical signals so they perfectly match the signals coming from your finger, making touch detection more accurate.

13

citations

This patent describes the software logic that allows touchscreens to distinguish between simple scrolling and multi-finger gestures, while also enabling the signature 'rubber-band' bounce effect when you reach the end of a page.

132

citations

This 2012 patent describes a handheld device, like an early BlackBerry, with a QWERTY keyboard and a trackball, focusing on the physical arrangement of keys around the navigation tool.

This patent describes a clever way for electronic devices, like cell phones, to save battery power by using different amplifier circuits for strong and weak signals, making them more efficient.

13

citations

Apple's patent on using mathematical ellipses to track and identify individual fingers and palms on a touch-sensitive surface.

93

citations

This patent describes a method for stacking two full wafers of computer chips, where the chips on each wafer are roughly the same overall size but have different active areas, to create a compact system-in-package.

3

citations

This patent describes a fuel cell system that captures and recycles over 95% of the unused hydrogen from its exhaust stream using a special pump, significantly boosting efficiency.

29

citations

This patent describes a compact robot actuator that uses a special gear system and two motors with different electrical resistance to precisely control both the force and speed applied to a robotic arm or tool.

5

citations