Overview: Although overall patent disputes in the district courts have decreased, PTAB filings continue to be stable and NPEs continue to account for more than half of new cases.

For PTAB analytics and case information please go to portal.unifiedpatents.com

Fig. 1:         So far in 2016, 4,532* new patent infringement disputes were filed in district courts or at PTAB.    Total disputes are estimated to be 6032 by the end of the year.

*Eliminating duplicate, primarily non-patent, and erroneous cases

Fig. 2:      As in previous years, High Tech patent disputes far outnumber disputes in other industries.

Fig. 3:       The Eastern District of Texas (TXED) continues to be most popular venue for district court patent litigation.   PTAB continues to be the most popular venue for patent disputes overall.

Fig. 4:        90% of all cases filed in the E.D. Tex. in 2016 were brought by NPE plaintiffs.

Fig. 5:       1078 new patent cases were filed in Q3 2016, compared to 1133 in Q3 2015 and 1149 in Q3 2014.

Fig. 6:       60% of 2016 patent cases were in the High-Tech sector.

Fig. 7:      2016 High-Tech sector cases comprised almost all NPE litigation.

Fig. 8:        Patent Assertion Entities (PAE) accounted for 84% of all NPE activity.

Fig. 9:       NPEs account for 90.5% of all High Tech litigation in 2016.

Fig. 10:       40% of 2016 PTAB respondents were NPEs.  (see portal.unifiedpatents.com)

Fig. 11:       High Tech sector patents were involved in 54% of all PTAB challenges in 2016, slightly less than the proportion in district court (see Fig. 6).   (see portal.unifiedpatents.com)

Fig. 12:         Inter partes reviews (IPRs) continue to be the most popular method for challenging patents at PTAB.   (see portal.unifiedpatents.com)

Fig. 13:       2016's top 5 plaintiffs are all NPEs. 

Fig. 14:       4 of the top 5 defendants for 2016 are in High-Tech.

Fig. 15:        Unified Patents is the 4th most prolific PTAB petitioner for 2016.   (see portal.unifiedpatents.com)

Fig. 16:        Fontem Holdings was challenged 27 times at PTAB in 2016.   (see portal.unifiedpatents.com)