Topical Semisolid Formulation Patents: Leaders & White Space 2026
Topical Semisolid Formulation Patents: Who Holds the Ground and Where It's Open
Ownership is thin at the top. the leading assignee holds 130 records and the ranked leaders' combined top 5 is just 10.5% of all 4,229 records in scope — no single player controls the field. Annual filings climbed from 264 in 2017 to a peak of 295 in 2021, then declined to 121 by 2024 — a -59% move over that three-year span. Because publication lags filing by roughly 18 months, the 2025 and 2026 counts shown are still incomplete and should not be read as a continuation of the decline.
- 1ALLERGAN INC3.1%
- 2PROCTER & GAMBLE CO2.5%
- 3RGT UNIV OF CALIFORNIA1.8%
- 4DERMATRENDS INC1.6%
- 5GILEAD SCIENCES INC1.4%
See the full topical semisolid formulation 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 topical semisolid formulation patents
Who are the leading patent holders in topical semisolid formulation?
The dataset’s assignee ranking covers 100 companies drawn from 4,229 records, with the leading assignee holding 130 records and the fifth-ranked holding 61. The combined top 5 account for 10.5% of all records in scope, which is a modest share for a field leader — ownership is spread across pharmaceutical majors, a consumer-products company and university-affiliated filers rather than concentrated in one hand. This means freedom-to-operate analysis needs to check several portfolios individually rather than relying on a single dominant player’s claims.
Is patent filing in topical semisolid formulations growing or declining?
Filing rose from 264 records in 2017 to a peak of 295 in 2021, then fell to 121 by 2024 — a decline of 59% over that three-year span, using only complete filing years. Publication lags filing by roughly 18 months, so the lower counts shown for 2025 and 2026 in raw data are not yet reliable evidence of a continuing trend. Based on the complete-year data, the field has genuinely cooled since its 2021 peak, but it has not disappeared — 121 records in 2024 is still a substantial base.
What technology areas dominate topical semisolid formulation patent claims?
A61K, medicinal preparations, appears on 91.7% of the 4,229 records in scope, making it by far the dominant classification. A61P, covering therapeutic activity of compounds, follows at 43.5%, while A61Q cosmetics-use classification trails at 14.0%. Because a single record can carry multiple IPC codes, these percentages overlap and sum to more than 100% — they describe how claim language is framed, not mutually exclusive categories of invention.
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 Topical Semisolid Formulation 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.