The iPhone
The original iPhone shipped in 2007 and redefined computing. Its most important innovations were all patented: multi-touch, pinch-to-zoom, rubber-band scroll, the capacitive touchscreen, and the gorilla-glass body.
Inventions in context
The Patents Behind Famous Products
Every transformative product is built on a handful of key patents. These are the real filings — the actual claims that gave inventors the legal monopoly to build what they built.
The Web
The modern web rests on a small set of foundational patents: PageRank (how search works), RSA (how HTTPS works), and the cookie (how websites remember you).
GPS Navigation
Every GPS device and mapping app builds on decades of patents covering satellite navigation, map rendering, and real-time routing.
Gene Therapy
Modern gene therapy and the entire biotech drug pipeline rest on two foundational patents: Cohen-Boyer recombinant DNA (the ability to insert foreign genes into bacteria) and CRISPR-Cas9 (precise gene editing in living cells).
The Digital Music Player
Portable digital music depended on two inventions: the MP3 compression algorithm (so songs fit on a chip) and the flash-memory storage that let players hold thousands of songs without a spinning disk.