Recent examples of Microwave Assisted Organic Synthesis (MAOS) found embedded within issued US patents will be supplied. Analysis of this patent activity from the pharmaceutical industry will be provided. An examination of the general trends among these examples may guide synthetic organic chemists, and medicinal chemists in drug discovery labs in particular, to choose a “preferred mode” of compound preparation for given reaction types. An in-depth critical evaluation, however, is often impeded by a lack of uniform descriptors of microwave reaction parameters employed (e.g. ramp-to-temperature time, absorbance level or magnetron power profile, and vessel size or shape). This discussion of current microwave chemistry in pharmaceutical US patents will be supplemented with examples from Wyeth Research.