Background: Considerable efforts have been made in order to find new oxazolidinone-based antibacterial agents with improved biological profile. Objective: The purpose of this review is to highlight application patents on oxazolidinone-based antibacterial agents that appeared from mid-2004 to the end of 2006. Methods: The major actors in this field were private companies that have done an intense research activity, in order to individuate the most important features responsible for the activity, starting from the results previously obtained by Pharmacia & Upjohn. Results/conclusion: A huge number of oxazolidinone derivatives are presently under study and a lot of WO-PCT applications appeared during the last few years. Although these recent works show that significant goals could be reached, data reported in analyzed patent applications do not allow to assure exactly that in the near future one of these oxazolidinones could reach the market. © 2008 Informa UK Ltd.