Acne and Retinoid Topicals Patents: Concentration at the Top, a Long Tail Beneath It
16.2% of all filings sit with just five assignees, out of 5,432 records in scope — but the other 83.8% is spread across a long tail of single- and few-filing entrants. Filings ran at 302 in 2017, the peak year in this dataset, and dropped to 139 by 2021. From 2021 to 2024 — the last year that can be treated as complete given an ~18-month publication lag — filings fell a further -48% to 72. Figures for 2025 and 2026 (9 so far) are still filling in and should not be read as a continued decline.
- 1JOHNSON & JOHNSON CONSUMER INC7.3%
- 2GALDERMA RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT SNC3.0%
- 3KLOX TECH2.4%
- 4ANTERIOS INC2.0%
- 5KENVUE BRANDS LLC1.5%
See the full acne and retinoid topicals analysis in Eureka
- The complete ranking, not just the top five
- Every IPC branch with its share of the corpus
- The most-cited records, and where claim space is still thin
Common questions on acne and retinoid topical patents
Who holds the most patents on acne and retinoid topical treatments?
The assignee ranking in this dataset is led by one company with 398 records, well ahead of the fifth-place filer at 82 and tenth place at 62. The top five assignees together hold 878 records, which is 16.2% of the 5,432 records in scope, so while the leader is well ahead of any single competitor, the field as a whole is not tightly controlled. The remaining 100 ranked companies, plus unranked filers, cover a long tail of smaller portfolios, which matters for anyone assessing freedom to operate.
Is patent filing activity in this field growing or shrinking?
Filings peaked at 302 in 2017 and have declined since, falling from 139 in 2021 to 72 in 2024, a -48% change over that span. 2024 is the most recent year the data can treat as reliably complete, because patent publication typically lags filing by about 18 months, so the low counts shown for 2025 and 2026 reflect that lag rather than a sudden stop in R&D. Anyone tracking this space should expect the 2025–2026 figures to rise as later filings publish.
What is the difference between A61K and A61Q claims in this space?
A61K covers medicinal preparations and appears in 82.7% of the 5,432 records, making it the dominant classification for acne and retinoid topical filings. A61Q covers cosmetic use and appears in 32.8% of records, often alongside A61K on the same filing, since a formulation can be claimed for both therapeutic and cosmetic use. This overlap reflects how many acne products straddle drug and cosmetic regulatory categories depending on the jurisdiction and marketing claim.
Disclaimer. This analysis is based on Patsnap Eureka data drawn from a limited snapshot of global patent records and is provided for general information and reference only. Patent data carries inherent limitations — recent filings are under-counted because of publication lag, counts may be on a record or family basis, classification and applicant-name data may contain errors or duplicates, and the underlying search query defines the scope shown — so the analysis may be incomplete or inaccurate and may not reflect the full technology landscape.
Nothing here is an exhaustive prior-art, novelty, freedom-to-operate or validity search, nor does it constitute legal, financial or professional advice, and it should not be relied upon as such. Verify independently and review with qualified patent and legal professionals before acting on it.
Method: Filing trend and technology composition. Derived from a Patsnap search on Acne and Retinoid Topicals covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-07-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish. Every share divides by all records in scope. Data: Patsnap Eureka. See the full landscape report.