Patent Expiration Opportunities

A method for identifying business opportunities by tracking patent filings and expirations, with examples of successful companies built on expired patents.

Patent Research Sources

• Two main research areas:
  • Patent filings - Track what big companies are betting on
  • Patent expiries - Find opportunities when patents become public domain
• Key resources:
  • Patent Drop newsletter - Breaks down 3 patents per issue from major tech firms
  • PatentsExpiringToday.com - Aggregates expiring patent data

Notable Success Stories

• Bluechew (ED medication company)

  • Founded when Viagra patent expired in 2017
  • Built telehealth business around generic ED medication
  • Bootstrapped to $100M+ in annual revenue
  • Owns Meds.com for telehealth operations
  • Massive market: 150-200M current customers globally
  • Projected growth to 400-500M customers by 2030

• HIMS

  • Leveraged patent expiry for initial product line
  • Similar telehealth/D2C model to Bluechew

Market Entry Strategy

• Monitor patent databases for upcoming expirations
• Look for patents with large existing markets
• Consider barriers to entry and manufacturing capabilities
• Focus on products with strong D2C potential
• Build supporting infrastructure (e.g., telehealth platform)
• Time market entry around patent expiration dates

Additional Opportunities

• Public domain content entering yearly
  • Example: Winnie the Pooh recently entered public domain
  • Companies like Ryan Reynolds leveraged for commercial use
• Look beyond just pharmaceutical patents
  • Nike has significant design patents
  • Technology patents frequently expire
• Requires significant filtering to identify viable opportunities