Patents timeline.

https://www.archives.gov/historical-docs/edisons-light-bulb-patent
Thomas Edison issued the first patent of the lightbulb, but he did not invent the lightbulb. What he did was adjustments to the lightbulb.

https://patents.google.com/patent/US4136359
Steve Wozniak invented a method for displaying color and high resolution graphics using a standard cathode ray tube, which this April 1977 filing described.

https://patents.google.com/patent/US6285999
the approach provided a significant improvement in the quality of search results, a key factor in Google’s rise as the dominant search engine. Interestingly, the original assignee was Stanford University, which received 1.8 million shares of Google stock in exchange for a long-term license. When your company name becomes a verb, you know the IP behind the activity is pretty valuable, and worth protecting.

https://patents.google.com/patent/US6955484
detailed a harness to attach a camera safely to your body so it wouldn’t dislodge while surfing, rock climbing, dancing, kiteboarding or doing anything else. GoPro’s growth soared starting in 2009 upon the release of its own line of affordable video cameras, and the brand has become synonymous with recording life’s dynamic moments.

http://blog.ipfolio.com/10-patents-that-launched-billion-dollar-empires
method of identifying and responding to a specific network security risk category evolved into the company’s main product line, the FireEye Malware Protection System. A massively successful IPO on NASDAQ followed in 2013.

https://patents.google.com/patent/US8101402
Based on a vision of rapid medical diagnosis and treatment, the method is a wearable patch to help administer drugs, monitor patients’ variables in the blood, while adjusting the dosage as needed.

https://patents.google.com/patent/US8272961
The method described how individual characters and character teams could challenge others based on characteristics such as abilities, powers, defenses and performance levels.

https://patents.google.com/patent/US7904382
The SolarLease® is a business method using tax-deductible home loans to finance solar installations. Rampant growth using the lease process detailed in the patent made SolarCity one of the hottest brands in the resurgent renewable sector in the USA.

https://patents.google.com/patent/US8231055
It details exactly what anyone who has visited an arts and craft festival in recent years knows well – swiping a credit card on a mobile phone is an incredibly easy way to buy and sell anything. It’s also a great way to create a multi-billion-dollar valuation.

http://blog.ipfolio.com/10-patents-that-launched-billion-dollar-empires
this patent details how multiple clients can share and synchronize folders and their contents across a network. Version control ensures everyone can access the latest iteration of a file. If you’ve ever used Dropbox, you know this is a core part of why online file sharing and access became so popular so quickly.

https://patents.google.com/patent/US8225376
It addresses privacy settings, and systems and methods to dynamically generate a privacy summary based on an individual’s privacy setting selections.

Patents

Lightbulb

Apple

Google

Gopro

Fire

Theranos

Zynga

Solarcity

Square

Dropbox

Facebook