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PatentBrief

Patent Intelligence · IP Expiry

Patent cliff analysis

A patent cliff is when a large cohort of patents in a domain expires, allowing generic manufacturers, open-source projects, or competitors to use those inventions freely. Choose a domain to see the 2025–2029 cliff — patents expiring, cumulative citations lost to protection, and the most-cited inventions entering public domain.

Most-watched domains

AI/ML

AI & Machine Learning Patent Cliff

Foundational AI patents from the 2000s and early 2010s — many from IBM, Google, and Microsoft — are

Biotech

Biotechnology Patent Cliff

First-generation biotech patents covering monoclonal antibody platforms, PCR techniques, and early d

Telecom

Telecommunications Patent Cliff

2G and 3G standard-essential patents (SEPs) are expiring, reducing licensing costs for carriers and

Semiconductor

Semiconductors Patent Cliff

Key semiconductor patents from the 3G/4G and CMOS scaling era are expiring, including process nodes

Pharmaceutical

Pharmaceuticals Patent Cliff

The pharmaceutical patent cliff: blockbuster drugs including biologics and small molecules from the

All domains

Consumer Electronics

Patent Cliff 2025–2029

Software

Patent Cliff 2025–2029

E-Commerce

Patent Cliff 2025–2029

Mechanical Engineering

Patent Cliff 2025–2029

Automotive

Patent Cliff 2025–2029

Clean Energy

Patent Cliff 2025–2029

Gene Editing

Patent Cliff 2025–2029

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