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Patent Intelligence · FTO Analysis

The explicit limits of patent protection.

Claims define what's covered. But knowing what's explicitly excluded is equally valuable for freedom-to-operate analysis. PatentBrief's AI has analyzed 837 major patents to surface their explicit scope exclusions — what each patent definitively does NOT protect, even if similar-sounding technology exists.

Patents with exclusion data

837

Scope exclusions catalogued

3,198

Most Commercially Significant Patents — Their Explicit Scope Limits

Sorted by commercial relevance score. For engineers doing FTO: this is where the exclusions matter most.

Telecommunications

1973

commercial 100%

How Corning Invented Modern Fiber Optic Cables

A 1970 method for creating glass fibers that carry light over long distances by layering glass inside a tube and drawing it into a thin, solid strand.

What this patent does NOT cover

  • the chemical vapor deposition processes (like MCVD) that later became the industry standard for mass production.
  • the use of plastic or polymer-based optical fibers.
  • the specific electronic hardware used to transmit or receive the light signals.
  • fiber optic cables that do not use a core-cladding structure with differing refractive indices.

Corning Glass Works

86 forward citations

Semiconductors

1996

commercial 100%

How Nichia Created the First Practical Blue LED Electrodes

A foundational patent describing the specific metal contacts needed to make gallium nitride LEDs efficient and commercially viable.

What this patent does NOT cover

  • the underlying growth process of the gallium nitride crystal itself.
  • LEDs made from materials other than gallium nitride-based III-V compounds.
  • electrode materials that do not utilize nickel or nickel-gold combinations as specified.
  • non-ohmic contact methods that rely on different electrical physics.

Nichia Chemical Industries Ltd

251 forward citations

Biotechnology

2018

commercial 100%

How CRISPR-Cas9 Uses RNA to Edit DNA

This patent describes the fundamental mechanism of using a two-part RNA system to guide the Cas9 protein to specific locations in DNA for precise editing.

What this patent does NOT cover

  • naturally occurring RNA complexes found in wild-type bacteria.
  • single-guide RNA (sgRNA) designs where the two RNA components are covalently linked by a long loop of nucleotides.
  • the Cas9 protein itself, but rather the specific RNA guide system used to direct it.
  • methods of gene editing that do not utilize the Cas9 polypeptide.

Universitaet Wien

49 forward citations

manufacturing

1986

commercial 100%

How 3D Printers Build Objects Layer by Layer from Liquid

This patent describes the foundational method for 3D printing, where a machine builds a three-dimensional object layer by layer by hardening a liquid material with light or other energy.

What this patent does NOT cover

  • 3D printing methods that use powdered materials, like selective laser sintering (SLS), instead of a fluid medium.
  • 3D printing methods that extrude melted plastic filaments, like Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM).
  • Systems that build objects by adding material from the side or top, rather than "extracting" them from a designated surface of a fluid.
  • Methods that don't rely on a "synergistic stimulation" (e.g., light, electron beam, chemical jet) to change the material's state.

UVP Inc

1094 forward citations

Consumer Electronics

2010

commercial 100%

How Multi-Touch Screens Track Multiple Fingers at Once

Apple's 2010 patent describes a touch screen that uses two layers of transparent conductive lines to detect several fingers touching the screen simultaneously.

What this patent does NOT cover

  • single-touch screens that only detect one point of contact at a time.
  • resistive touch screens that rely on physical pressure to connect two flexible layers.
  • non-transparent touch sensors used in trackpads or other non-display surfaces.
  • the software algorithms used to interpret the touch data into specific gestures like pinch-to-zoom.

Apple Inc

1995 forward citations

Consumer Electronics

1995

commercial 100%

How a Modern Camera Sensor Captures Light and Converts It to Data

This patent describes a camera sensor technology that combines light-capturing elements with a special circuit to read out the image data quickly and efficiently, all on a single chip.

What this patent does NOT cover

  • Image sensors that use only traditional CCD technology for both charge collection and readout across the entire chip.
  • Sensors where the charge is read out directly from the photogate without an intermediate charge coupled device section within the pixel.
  • Image sensors that do not use a complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) circuit for the pixel's readout.
  • Sensors that rely on different charge accumulation mechanisms other than a photogate.
  • +1 more exclusions → view full patent

California Institute of Technology

620 forward citations

Software

1983

commercial 100%

How RSA Public-Key Encryption Keeps Digital Messages Secret

This patent describes the foundational RSA algorithm, a method for securely sending messages where anyone can encrypt a message using a public key, but only the intended recipient can decrypt it using a secret private key.

What this patent does NOT cover

  • symmetric encryption systems where the same key is used for both encryption and decryption.
  • cryptographic methods that do not rely on modular exponentiation (M^e mod n) for encryption and decryption.
  • systems where the modulus 'n' is not the product of two prime numbers, 'p' and 'q', as specified in Claim 1.
  • encryption schemes that do not use a public exponent 'e' that is relatively prime to lcm(p-1, q-1), as defined in Claim 1.
  • +1 more exclusions → view full patent

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

1015 forward citations

Semiconductors

1968

commercial 100%

How Robert Dennard Invented the One-Transistor DRAM Memory Cell

IBM's 1967 patent for a memory cell using a single transistor and a capacitor, which became the foundation for all modern computer RAM.

What this patent does NOT cover

  • static RAM (SRAM) which uses multiple transistors to hold data without needing periodic refreshing.
  • the manufacturing processes for etching these transistors onto silicon wafers.
  • magnetic core memory or other non-semiconductor storage technologies.

International Business Machines Corp

191 forward citations

Consumer Electronics

1982

commercial 100%

How Lithium-Ion Battery Cathodes Are Made

A foundational 1982 method for creating the materials used in rechargeable lithium-ion batteries by removing ions at low temperatures.

What this patent does NOT cover

  • the physical assembly of a complete battery cell.
  • high-temperature manufacturing processes for these materials.
  • the use of materials that do not follow the specific A x M y O 2 layered structure.
  • the specific electrolyte compositions used in the battery.

Individual

41 forward citations

Telecommunications

1960

commercial 100%

How the First Laser Was Invented

The foundational 1960 patent by Schawlow and Townes that describes how to amplify light waves to create a laser, moving beyond microwave technology.

What this patent does NOT cover

  • the use of semiconductor materials for lasers, which were developed later.
  • fiber optic cables themselves, only the light-amplification device.
  • non-resonant methods of light amplification.

Bell Telephone Laboratories Inc

145 forward citations

social_network

2010

commercial 100%

Displaying Friends' Activities in a Social Network Feed

This patent describes how social networks like Facebook collect what users do, create short updates about those actions, and show them to specific friends in a personalized list called a "news feed."

What this patent does NOT cover

  • displaying news items without an associated link that allows a viewing user to participate in the same activity (Claim 1).
  • news feeds that are not limited to a "predetermined set of viewers" (Claim 1).
  • systems where news items are not generated from activities performed by *another user* (Claim 1).
  • news feeds that only show a single news item, as it specifies "two or more" (Claim 1).
  • +1 more exclusions → view full patent

Facebook Inc

231 forward citations

medical_devices

1988

commercial 100%

How Doctors Implant a Permanent Stent Using a Balloon

This patent describes the method for placing a permanent, expandable wire mesh tube inside a blood vessel or other body tube using a balloon-tipped catheter to widen it and keep it open.

What this patent does NOT cover

  • Grafts that expand on their own without needing a balloon or other external force from the catheter.
  • Grafts that are not permanently deformed when expanded, meaning they would spring back to their original size.
  • Methods where the graft is expanded by a mechanism other than an inflatable portion of the catheter.
  • Grafts that are not delivered upon a catheter but are instead injected or deployed differently.
  • +1 more exclusions → view full patent

Expandable Grafts Partnership

2425 forward citations

Semiconductors

1951

commercial 100%

The Invention of the Junction Transistor

William Shockley's 1951 patent for the junction transistor, the fundamental building block of all modern digital electronics.

What this patent does NOT cover

  • the earlier point-contact transistor design developed by Bardeen and Brattain.
  • field-effect transistors (FETs) that rely on a gate-controlled electric field rather than p-n junctions.
  • integrated circuits or the process of etching multiple transistors onto a single silicon wafer.

Bell Telephone Laboratories Inc

145 forward citations

Biotechnology

2012

commercial 100%

How Modified RNA Tricks Cells Into Making Proteins Without Triggering Attacks

A breakthrough method for using modified RNA to deliver instructions to cells without causing the body to reject the treatment as a foreign invader.

What this patent does NOT cover

  • naturally occurring RNA found in the body.
  • unmodified RNA that triggers a standard immune response.
  • DNA-based gene therapy or viral vector delivery systems that do not use the specified modified RNA.
  • Does not claim the specific protein being encoded, only the method of using modified RNA to induce its production.

University of Pennsylvania Penn

322 forward citations

Software

1997

commercial 100%

How Netscape Created the Secure Socket Layer (SSL) for Web Security

Netscape's 1995 patent defining the architecture for SSL, the foundational technology that allows browsers to securely transmit encrypted data over the internet.

What this patent does NOT cover

  • specific encryption algorithms like RSA or AES individually.
  • the physical hardware or network cabling used to transmit data.
  • the underlying TCP/IP protocol stack itself.
  • authentication methods like digital certificates not described in the specific socket-layer implementation.

Netscape Communications Corp

383 forward citations

Software

2001

commercial 100%

How Websites Get Ranked by Importance

This patent describes a computer method for scoring documents in a linked database, like the internet, by considering the importance of other documents that link to them, helping search engines find better results.

What this patent does NOT cover

  • ranking documents solely based on the words they contain, without considering incoming links.
  • ranking documents where the score is not influenced by the scores of other documents linking to it.
  • ranking systems that only count the number of links to a document, without adjusting for the importance of the linking document itself.
  • ranking based purely on user behavior metrics like clicks, unless those metrics are used to adjust the linking document's weighting factor (Claim 7).
  • +1 more exclusions → view full patent

Leland Stanford Junior University

818 forward citations

Semiconductors

1985

commercial 100%

How Flash Memory Cells Use an Erase Gate to Clear Data

This 1985 patent describes the foundational structure of flash memory, introducing an 'erase gate' that allows data to be electrically wiped from a memory cell.

What this patent does NOT cover

  • memory cells that rely solely on ultraviolet light for erasure (EPROM).
  • non-semiconductor storage media like magnetic hard drives.
  • the specific software logic used to manage data file systems.
  • memory architectures that lack a dedicated erase gate structure.

Tokyo Shibaura Electric Co Ltd

27 forward citations

Telecommunications

1973

commercial 100%

How Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) Tags Were Invented

A 1970 patent describing a remote tag that powers itself using incoming radio signals to read and write data, forming the foundation of modern RFID technology.

What this patent does NOT cover

  • active transponders that rely on internal batteries for their primary power source.
  • systems where the base station does not provide the energy for the transponder's operation.
  • non-electronic storage methods that do not involve a memory means capable of being written to or read from via signal processing.

Communications Services Corp Inc

185 forward citations

AI & Machine Learning

2019

commercial 100%

How AI Models Understand Language Using 'Attention'

This patent describes a neural network architecture, known as a Transformer, that uses a "self-attention" mechanism to process sequences of information, like words in a sentence, by weighing the importance of different parts of the input.

What this patent does NOT cover

  • neural networks that process sequences without using a self-attention mechanism.
  • attention mechanisms where the "query," "keys," and "values" are not derived from the *same* subnetwork inputs for self-attention.
  • systems that lack either an "encoder neural network" or a "decoder neural network" as part of the overall sequence transduction network (Claim 1).
  • models that do not explicitly determine and use "query," "keys," and "values" from the subnetwork inputs as described in Claim 1.
  • +1 more exclusions → view full patent

Google LLC

45 forward citations

Semiconductors

1950

commercial 100%

The Invention of the Transistor

Bell Labs' 1950 patent for the point-contact transistor, the fundamental electronic component that makes all modern computing possible.

What this patent does NOT cover

  • junction transistors, which were developed later and use different internal structures.
  • integrated circuits, which combine many transistors onto a single chip.
  • field-effect transistors (FETs) that use an insulated gate structure.
  • modern silicon-based manufacturing processes like photolithography.

Bell Telephone Laboratories Inc

130 forward citations

Clean Energy

1888

commercial 100%

How Nikola Tesla Invented the Modern AC Electric Motor

Nikola Tesla's 1888 patent for an induction motor that uses rotating magnetic fields to convert electricity into mechanical motion without needing physical brushes.

What this patent does NOT cover

  • direct current (DC) motors that rely on mechanical commutators and brushes.
  • single-phase AC motors that lack the specific multi-phase rotating field mechanism described.
  • power generation systems, only the specific motor configuration for converting electrical energy to rotational work.

Individual

1 forward citations

Semiconductors

1961

commercial 100%

How Robert Noyce Invented the Modern Integrated Circuit

Robert Noyce's 1959 patent for a semiconductor device that uses evaporated metal leads to connect components directly on a single silicon chip.

What this patent does NOT cover

  • the invention of the transistor itself.
  • non-planar methods of manufacturing semiconductors.
  • the specific chemical doping recipes used to create the P-N junctions.
  • discrete components that are not integrated onto a single substrate.

Fairchild Semiconductor Corp

165 forward citations

Automotive

1962

commercial 100%

How the Modern Three-Point Car Seatbelt Works

The foundational 1959 patent for the three-point seatbelt, which secures both the torso and lap to prevent injury during vehicle collisions.

What this patent does NOT cover

  • two-point lap-only belts common in early aviation or older cars.
  • automatic motorized seatbelt systems that move along a track.
  • airbag deployment systems or their integration with belts.
  • child-specific restraint systems like five-point harnesses.

Volvo AB

17 forward citations

Biotechnology

2020

commercial 100%

How Moderna's mRNA Vaccine Technology Targets Betacoronaviruses

A patent describing a specific mRNA vaccine design that uses lipid nanoparticles to deliver genetic instructions for building parts of a betacoronavirus to trigger an immune response.

What this patent does NOT cover

  • vaccines using traditional weakened or inactivated viruses.
  • mRNA sequences that encode proteins unrelated to betacoronavirus S proteins.
  • delivery methods other than the specific lipid nanoparticle formulations described.
  • the use of unmodified (non-chemically modified) mRNA.

ModernaTx Inc

46 forward citations

Clean Energy

1957

commercial 100%

How the First Practical Silicon Solar Cell Works

A 1954 invention by Bell Labs researchers that created the first silicon-based solar cell capable of converting sunlight into enough electricity to power everyday devices.

What this patent does NOT cover

  • solar cells made from materials other than silicon.
  • solar power systems that lack a battery for energy storage.
  • the use of non-boron impurities for creating the p-type zone.
  • solar cells without the specific one-way electrical gate (diode) for preventing battery discharge.

Bell Telephone Laboratories Inc

59 forward citations

Exclusions by Domain

Average number of explicit scope exclusions per patent, by technology domain.

life_sciences

avg 5.3 exclusions

3 patents

e.g. “Does not cover detection methods that do not use a labeled oligonucleotide.

cybersecurity

avg 5.3 exclusions

4 patents

e.g. “Does not cover anomaly detection systems that do not create a unique 'entity profile' for each network participant.

oncology

avg 5.0 exclusions

3 patents

e.g. “Does not cover an mRNA vaccine for prostate cancer that only includes some of the six specific antigens (STEAP, PSA, PSM

retail

avg 5.0 exclusions

3 patents

e.g. “Does not cover electronic cash registers with digital displays.

research_tools

avg 5.0 exclusions

5 patents

e.g. “Amplification methods that do not use a thermostable enzyme, as claim 1(b) specifically requires a "thermostable enzyme.

healthcare

avg 5.0 exclusions

3 patents

e.g. “Does not cover antibodies made entirely from a single mammalian species.

Gene Editing

avg 4.8 exclusions

11 patents

e.g. “Amplification methods that do not use a thermostable enzyme, as claim 1(b) specifically requires a "thermostable enzyme.

diagnostics

avg 4.8 exclusions

5 patents

e.g. “Amplification methods that do not use a thermostable enzyme, as claim 1(b) specifically requires a "thermostable enzyme.

medical_devices

avg 4.5 exclusions

17 patents

e.g. “Analyzing images that are not pathological or medical in nature.

manufacturing

avg 4.4 exclusions

8 patents

e.g. “3D printing methods that use powdered materials, like selective laser sintering (SLS), instead of a fluid medium.

robotics

avg 4.3 exclusions

3 patents

e.g. “Does not cover general machine learning algorithms that do not specifically use reward estimation based on action histor

finance

avg 4.2 exclusions

32 patents

e.g. “Digital currency systems not controlled by a central issuer (e.g., decentralized cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin).

Pharmaceuticals

avg 4.1 exclusions

102 patents

e.g. “Antibodies that do not bind human TNFα.

Biotechnology

avg 4.1 exclusions

139 patents

e.g. “Amplification methods that do not use a thermostable enzyme, as claim 1(b) specifically requires a "thermostable enzyme.

Software

avg 4.1 exclusions

317 patents

e.g. “3D printing methods that use powdered materials, like selective laser sintering (SLS), instead of a fluid medium.

AI & Machine Learning

avg 4.1 exclusions

163 patents

e.g. “Analyzing images that are not pathological or medical in nature.

Telecommunications

avg 4.0 exclusions

253 patents

e.g. “A system that only displays a WHOIS record without calculating or providing a time difference value (Claim 1).

E-Commerce

avg 3.9 exclusions

88 patents

e.g. “A system that only displays a WHOIS record without calculating or providing a time difference value (Claim 1).

gaming

avg 3.9 exclusions

14 patents

e.g. “Detecting inactivity using only one type of sensor data (e.g., only motion or only camera).

Semiconductors

avg 3.9 exclusions

112 patents

e.g. “Batteries using anodes made of metals not listed in Group Ia, Ib, IIa, IIb, IIIa, or IVa.

Consumer Electronics

avg 3.8 exclusions

468 patents

e.g. “3D printing methods that use powdered materials, like selective laser sintering (SLS), instead of a fluid medium.

materials

avg 3.8 exclusions

67 patents

e.g. “3D printing methods that use powdered materials, like selective laser sintering (SLS), instead of a fluid medium.

aerospace

avg 3.7 exclusions

52 patents

e.g. “Does not cover active control systems that use electronic sensors or actuators to adjust airflow.

Automotive

avg 3.7 exclusions

61 patents

e.g. “Does not cover air-cushion vehicles that lack the specific 'wall means' creating an upward-flowing chamber for foreign m

chemical

avg 3.7 exclusions

3 patents

e.g. “Batteries using anodes made of metals not listed in Group Ia, Ib, IIa, IIb, IIIa, or IVa.

Mechanical Engineering

avg 3.5 exclusions

287 patents

e.g. “3D printing methods that use powdered materials, like selective laser sintering (SLS), instead of a fluid medium.

Clean Energy

avg 3.4 exclusions

45 patents

e.g. “Batteries using anodes made of metals not listed in Group Ia, Ib, IIa, IIb, IIIa, or IVa.

Why patent exclusions matter for FTO

Freedom-to-operate analysis requires knowing not just what a patent claims, but how courts have interpreted similar claims and what the patent explicitly disclaimed during prosecution. Scope exclusions are often where engineers find the most useful signal — if your implementation matches an explicit exclusion, that's a green flag.

How these exclusions were derived

PatentBrief's AI analyzed each patent's claims, specification, and prosecution context to identify what the patent clearly and explicitly does not protect. These are not legal opinions — they are research aids. The exclusions reflect what the patent scope clearly excludes, not formal claim construction. Consult a patent attorney for actual FTO clearance.

Why pharma and gene-editing patents have more exclusions

Pharmaceutical and biotech patents tend to have more explicit scope exclusions because claim drafters (and the AI) are more careful about distinguishing the specific compound, composition, or sequence from related structures. A drug patent that protects compound A must explicitly clarify that compound B, even if structurally similar, is not covered — both for regulatory reasons and litigation risk.

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