By: John Hintze
Source: www.insidecounsel.com
Category: Patent Litigation
Companies’ patent litigation costs continue to rise, and the number of patent suits filed each year continues to grow, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers’ (PwC) annual study on patent litigation, which suggests such litigation will play an increasingly important role in shaping companies’ bottom lines.
A record 4,015 patent actions were filed in 2011, with the annual growth in patent actions averaging 6.4% since 1991, according to PwC. But median damage awards are falling, though awards to non-practicing entities (NPEs)—plaintiffs who never intend to produce the patented products—have nearly doubled, the study finds.
The $1.05 billion award that a jury ordered Samsung Electronics to pay Apple for patent infringement last month “is a dramatic exclamation point to the study’s findings,” says Sarah Burstein, an associate professor at the University of Oklahoma College of Law.
Burstein notes the study’s finding that plaintiffs in patent suits are increasingly seeking jury trials—an average of 55.2% did so in the 2000s, up from 25.3% in the 1990s. That’s not surprising, she says, given how much easier it is for plaintiffs to paint defendants as idea thieves than for defendants to make the more nuanced argument that plaintiffs don’t have enforceable rights.
The study notes a high correlation (96%) between the number of patent cases filed and patents granted by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. However, Bob Chambers, a senior partner at the Cincinnati law firm of Wood Herron & Evans, discounted a causal relationship. He attributes the increase in patent suits to corporations’ greater emphasis on protecting their patents and NPEs bringing more suits.
“In either case, the litigation represents significant costs for corporations,” says Chambers, pictured at right.
The recession has prompted greater awareness of the importance of patents, Chambers says. He notes, for example, that more litigation is emerging in the technology industry, which traditionally did not get involved in patent litigation, and that plaintiffs such as Apple incur major costs to pursue litigation.
Consumer products remains the industry that sees the most patent lawsuits, followed by biotechnology and pharmaceuticals, industrial and construction, and medical devices. Computer hardware and electronics ranks next, but that industry may see litigation rise in coming years given recent M&A deals in which acquired companies held large numbers of patents, such as Google’s acquisition of Motorola Mobility and the purchase of the patents of defunct Nortel Networks by a consortium of large technology companies.
Source: http://www.insidecounsel.com/2012/09/19/patent-litigation-has-growing-impact-on-bottom-lin?t=litigation
Source: www.insidecounsel.com
Category: Patent Litigation
Companies’ patent litigation costs continue to rise, and the number of patent suits filed each year continues to grow, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers’ (PwC) annual study on patent litigation, which suggests such litigation will play an increasingly important role in shaping companies’ bottom lines.
A record 4,015 patent actions were filed in 2011, with the annual growth in patent actions averaging 6.4% since 1991, according to PwC. But median damage awards are falling, though awards to non-practicing entities (NPEs)—plaintiffs who never intend to produce the patented products—have nearly doubled, the study finds.
The $1.05 billion award that a jury ordered Samsung Electronics to pay Apple for patent infringement last month “is a dramatic exclamation point to the study’s findings,” says Sarah Burstein, an associate professor at the University of Oklahoma College of Law.
Burstein notes the study’s finding that plaintiffs in patent suits are increasingly seeking jury trials—an average of 55.2% did so in the 2000s, up from 25.3% in the 1990s. That’s not surprising, she says, given how much easier it is for plaintiffs to paint defendants as idea thieves than for defendants to make the more nuanced argument that plaintiffs don’t have enforceable rights.
The study notes a high correlation (96%) between the number of patent cases filed and patents granted by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. However, Bob Chambers, a senior partner at the Cincinnati law firm of Wood Herron & Evans, discounted a causal relationship. He attributes the increase in patent suits to corporations’ greater emphasis on protecting their patents and NPEs bringing more suits.
“In either case, the litigation represents significant costs for corporations,” says Chambers, pictured at right.
The recession has prompted greater awareness of the importance of patents, Chambers says. He notes, for example, that more litigation is emerging in the technology industry, which traditionally did not get involved in patent litigation, and that plaintiffs such as Apple incur major costs to pursue litigation.
Consumer products remains the industry that sees the most patent lawsuits, followed by biotechnology and pharmaceuticals, industrial and construction, and medical devices. Computer hardware and electronics ranks next, but that industry may see litigation rise in coming years given recent M&A deals in which acquired companies held large numbers of patents, such as Google’s acquisition of Motorola Mobility and the purchase of the patents of defunct Nortel Networks by a consortium of large technology companies.
Source: http://www.insidecounsel.com/2012/09/19/patent-litigation-has-growing-impact-on-bottom-lin?t=litigation
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