Patent Cliff · Software
Software patent cliff
A large wave of software patents from the 2005–2010 filing boom approaches expiry, opening up foundational UI patterns, data processing methods, and platform architectures.
Expiring 2025–2029
15
Citations at stake
3,596
Peak cliff year
2027
Already expired
45
Patents Expiring by Year (2025–2029)
2025
2
2026
2
2027
5
2028
3
2029
3
Most-Cited Software Patents Expiring 2025–2029
How the iPhone's Slide-to-Unlock Gesture Works
1,269
cit.
How Touchscreens Understand Your Finger Swipes and Scrolls
1,120
cit.
How Touchscreens Show and Snap Back When You Scroll Past an Edge
402
cit.
Displaying Friends' Activities in a Social Network Feed
231
cit.
How the iPhone's Slide-to-Unlock Gesture Works
141
cit.
How Touchscreens Handle Scrolling and Rubber-Band Effects
132
cit.
How Touchscreens Use Math to Recognize Your Fingers
93
cit.
Predicting User Interests Based on Who Looks at Whose Profile
73
cit.
How to Send Data Streams Independently Without Connection Overload
42
cit.
How Smartphones Switch Between Slow and Fast Scrolling
42
cit.
How to Automatically Generate Musical Harmonies from Audio
24
cit.
How Mobile Phones Can Securely Authorize Payments Using Random ID Codes
17
cit.
How a Centralized Broker Handles Online Shopping Transactions
9
cit.
How Computers Calculate Probabilities in Large Knowledge Bases
1
cit.
Year-by-Year Top Patents
2025
2 patents2026
2 patents2027
5 patents2028
3 patentsStrategic context
A large wave of software patents from the 2005–2010 filing boom approaches expiry, opening up foundational UI patterns, data processing methods, and platform architectures. As these patents expire, competitors and open-source projects can freely implement the underlying inventions without license fees. For FTO analysis on specific products, use the FTO Risk Snapshot tool →
Other domain cliffs