Next Biometrics gets US patent for full-screen smartphone biometrics

Next Biometrics has secured approval from the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) for its full-screen biometric authentication technology. 

The newly granted patent (No. 12471807) is titled “Biometric sensor comprising oxide semiconductor, biometric sensor on display, and methods of making and using the same.” It covers innovations in fingerprint biometric sensing that integrate a micro heater and micro temperature sensor for active thermal detection. 

These components, which may use oxide semiconductor materials, can be deployed either separately or combined within a single pixel. The patent also outlines both out-cell and in-cell fingerprint-on-display (FoD) devices, enabling authentication across the entire smartphone screen.

“I’ve shared before that our R&D team is developing a way to use our authentication technology on the full screen of a smartphone,” says Ulf Ritsvall, CEO of Next Biometrics. 

“In April we signed a non-disclosure agreement with a smartphone leader, and this patent is the latest milestone on this journey. Authenticating anywhere on the display is a long-sought-after innovation and we are receiving substantial interest from key industry players.”

Next Biometrics has secured numerous patents and this latest marks the company’s twenty-second. Next’s proprietary Active Thermal technology combines heat detection and 3D imaging to deliver faster authentication and robust liveness detection against spoofing attacks. The system also reduces energy consumption and maintains performance across varied lighting and environmental conditions, according to the company.

Next Biometrics has shipped more than 10 million sensors over the past 25 years, with its technology certified by international standards bodies including Aadhaar, FBI-PIV, MOSIP Compliance, and NIBSS. The company’s latest earnings report shows a large inventory of fingerprint devices and internal optimism as it looks to rebound. Ritsvall said it had weathered “a perfect storm” consisting of multiple “very severe” challenges. 

Article Topics

biometrics  |  fingerprint biometrics  |  full-screen fingerprint authentication  |  mobile biometrics  |  Next Biometrics  |  patents  |  smartphones  |  under display