Topic

Patents About to Expire

When a patent expires, its protection ends — and competitors can freely copy the invention. These are major patents expiring between 2025 and 2032.

A patent lasts 20 years from its filing date. After that, the invention enters the public domain — anyone can use it, copy it, manufacture it, without paying a royalty or asking permission. Patent expiration is one of the most commercially significant events in any industry: drug prices can drop 80% overnight when a pharmaceutical patent expires, competitors can finally launch competing products, and the market reshapes around open access to the previously protected technology. Apple's foundational iPhone patents — slide-to-unlock, rubberbanding, multi-touch — were all filed in the 2005–2007 window. They're expiring now or within the next few years. CRISPR gene editing expires in 2032. Amazon's one-click patent expired in 2017, and the result was immediate: every major retailer added one-click checkout within months. These are the patents whose expiration will matter most — and what comes after.