Patent Intelligence · Expiry Watch
Blockbusters going public
These are the most-cited, commercially important patents expiring in the next 3 years. High citation count means other inventors built on this IP — when it expires, those innovations become legally free to implement, extend, and commercialize.
Blockbusters expiring ≤3yr
15
Min. forward citations
15
Avg citations (this set)
146
#1 most-cited
1,120 cit
Blockbusters Expiring by Year
How many high-citation patents expire each year. A big year = a big opportunity window.
2026
1 patents
17 cit total
2027
6 patents
701 cit total
2028
6 patents
1,311 cit total
2029
2 patents
163 cit total
Which Domains Are Losing Blockbusters
Sorted by avg citations — domains where expiring IP is most impactful.
Consumer Electronics
9 patents
avg 221 cit
Telecommunications
8 patents
avg 210 cit
Software
10 patents
avg 204 cit
AI & Machine Learning
1 patents
avg 132 cit
Clean Energy
4 patents
avg 33 cit
Semiconductors
3 patents
avg 31 cit
Mechanical Engineering
1 patents
avg 20 cit
E-Commerce
1 patents
avg 17 cit
All 15 Expiring Blockbusters — Ranked by Citations
Minimum 15 forward citations. Expiry date shown with urgency coloring: months left.
1
1,120 forward citations
2
402 forward citations
3
141 forward citations
4
132 forward citations
5
93 forward citations
6
62 forward citations
7
42 forward citations
8
42 forward citations
9
29 forward citations
10
25 forward citations
11
24 forward citations
12
22 forward citations
13
21 forward citations
14
20 forward citations
15
17 forward citations
What expiry actually means
Patent expiry means the invention permanently enters the public domain — no license needed, no royalties owed. Anyone can make, use, sell, or improve the invention. This is not the same as a pending patent that might eventually expire, or a patent that was invalidated. Expiry is permanent and total.
Why high-citation patents matter most
Forward citation count measures how many later patents cited this one as prior art. A patent with 100+ citations was foundational to subsequent inventions. When that patent expires, it unlocks not just the original invention but the entire technical vocabulary and approach others built on top of it.
Commercial watch list strategy
Track the expiry dates of blockbusters in your space 2-3 years out. When a high-value patent expires: you can ship competitive products, file your own improvement patents (the base is now prior art you can cite), and license downstream derivatives from the original assignee's successors — often for far less than before.