Which are the most significant patents?

Managing IP is part of Legal Benchmarking Limited, 1-2 Paris Gardens, London, SE1 8ND

Copyright © Legal Benchmarking Limited and its affiliated companies 2026

Accessibility | Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Modern Slavery Statement

Cookies Settings

Which are the most significant patents?

We want to know which patents readers think have been the most important: send us your suggestions online, by email or on social media

Nominations can be in any technological field, and from any jurisdiction. Note that we are not necessarily looking for the most significant inventions, but for the most significant patents. 

Reasons for nomination could include:

  • The patent protected the sales of a particularly valuable product (such as a blockbuster drug).

  • The patent was widely licensed, enabling many different products and earning significant royalties.

  • The patent was successfully enforced in court and/or ADR (leading, for example, to remedies such as large damages).

  • The patent was widely cited and influential on later developments in the field.

You can nominate any number of patents, and they can be active or expired. Where possible, please provide a few sentences explaining why you have nominated each patent.

You can make nominations in the following ways:

We will make a final selection of the most significant patents from the nominations received, and will publish an analysis of each one in a future issue.



more from across site and SHARED ros bottom lb

More from across our site

The Canadian boutique’s new IP lead says he wants to build a tech-enabled IP practice aimed at giving startups senior expertise away from the traditional ‘big law’ set-up
Qantm IP’s acquisition of Henry Goh & Co shows shifting attitudes towards private equity, with firms increasingly viewing external backing as a normal route to expansion rather than a source of concern
The firm’s involvement in prominent AI cases drew litigator Christian Mammen to join from Womble Bond Dickinson, as US firms continue to bolster AI-focused practices
Two judicial appointments confirmed in Paris and Mannheim, while cross-border injunctions and high-profile procedural rulings keep major patent practices occupied
Patent and trademark practitioners say new arrival will help maintain the UK's reputation as a leading forum for complex IP disputes
Qantm CEO speaks to Managing IP about the business's first deal since it was acquired by a private equity firm and explains why top-tier Malaysian firm Henry Goh & Co was the group's ‘plan A, B and C’
György Pintz, founder of Pintz & Partners, talks through the challenges of founding a firm and explains why lawyers and table tennis players have more in common than you might expect
Kate Nuehring Su, partner at Marshall, Gerstein & Borun, explores a successful PTAB appeal and why the Federal Circuit reached an opposite outcome on the same doctrine
From BTS to Squid Game and kimchi to memory chips, the Korean wave is reverberating around the world and IP work is also seeing a boom, say two Yoon & Yang partners
Managing IP will host a ceremony in Kuala Lumpur on November 5 to reveal the winners
Gift this article