Patent portfolios carry enormous financial weight, with companies projected to spend over $177 billion on renewal fees in the next two decades and nearly $10 billion in 2026 alone, often to keep patents alive long after their commercial relevance has faded. The article explains a data-informed approach that rates patents by technological relevance and market coverage, shows that top-decile patents live up to 30% longer than those in the bottom 10%, and then poses two striking questions: why do organizations wait more than 13 years to start pruning low-value patents, and why are some of their highest-quality assets abandoned early? …