Patent cliff
From Conservapedia
Patent cliff is a sudden drop in profits to company from a product when the lifetime of its patent expires, which is typically 20 years. This term is often applied to patented medication.
| “ | Once the patent expires, a low-cost generic drug can wipe out billions of dollars in sales for the original maker, virtually overnight. They call this a “patent cliff.” Pfizer’s cholesterol drug Lipitor lost $5 billion in sales in the first year after generics came on the market.[1] | ” |
