Adobe Inc. is an American multinational company that develops printing, publishing and graphics software. Adobe has been instrumental in the creation of the desktop publishing industry with the introduction of its PostScript printer language. The company, headquartered in San Jose, California, was founded in 1982 by John Warnock and Charles Geschke.
Adobe has been a consistent financial performer with a steady pipeline of product innovations that drive its growth. Its multimedia and creativity software products like Adobe Creative Cloud and Adobe Photoshop are widely known and used by customers. Through its Kickbox innovation initiative, Adobe encourages innovators to explore and build on their ideas.
Adobe launched its flagship cloud product, Creative Cloud, in 2012 which continues to show a strong adoption in the market. In December 2018, the Creative Cloud’s user base stood at 15 million. We look at Adobe’s technology assets and overall patent portfolio in our report.
Adobe – Technology Trends
Figure 1: Patent Publication Trend [Click on the image to enlarge]
Figure 1 shows the growth of Adobe’s patent publications over two decades.
Figure 2: Top Geographies [Click on the image to enlarge]
Figure 2 illustrates the key geographies where Adobe files its patent applications. China is the second preferred jurisdiction after the US, for the company’s patent filings.
The current research and development projects in Adobe are focused around 3D graphics and imaging, computer vision, human computer interaction and natural language processing.
Figure 3 shows the evolution of the top technology segments in Adobe’s portfolio since 2004.
Figure 3: Evolution of Top Sub-technologies [Click on the image to enlarge]
Adobe’s transition from one-time software sales to a software-as-a-service model has proved to be successful. Its acquisition of the cloud marketing software firm Marketo as well as the e-commerce platform Magento will expand its growth in these new areas. Our detailed report gives insights into various facets of Adobe’s overall portfolio, including the quality of its patent assets, patents it has acquired from other players, and a granular comparison of the portfolio with its competitors, across different technology categories.
