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1st Half 2015 Patent Troll Dispute Report

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Overall Trend

Figure 1: In 2015, Patent Troll disputes is projected to exceed 7000.

Patent Disputes from 2012-2015 ITC PTAB Litigation 2012 2013 2014 2015 (Projected) 0 2500 5000 7500 10000
Year Litigation PTAB ITC
2012 5,378 111 43
2013 6,030 792 47
2014 5,002 1,677 37
2015 (Projected) 6,100 1,906 34

Figure 2: In 2015, Eastern District of Texas overtook PTAB as the top venue for patent disputes.

Patent Disputes by Venue E.D. Tex. PTAB D. Del. D. N.J. C.D. Cal. N.D. Cal. 0 400 800 1200 1600
District # of Cases # of Cases
E.D. Tex. 1,389
PTAB 953
D. Del. 249
D. N.J. 169
C.D. Cal. 129
N.D. Cal. 123

Figure 3: In 2015, PTAB filings continue to increase.

Litigation, PTAB, ITC Filings Since 2012 Litigation PTAB ITC 2012 2013 2014 2015 (Projected) 0 2000 4000 6000 8000
Year Litigation PTAB ITC
2012 5,378 111 43
2013 6,030 792 47
2014 5,002 1,677 37
2015 (Projected) 6,100 1,906 34

Figure 4: In Q2 2015, PTAB petitions reached 32.1% of initiated litigations.

Litigation and PTAB Filings by Quarter Litigation PTAB '14 Q1 '14 Q2 '14 Q3 '14 Q4 '15 Q1 '15 Q2 0 500 1000 1500 2000
Litigation PTAB
'14 Q1 1,273 231
'14 Q2 1,473 497
'14 Q3 1,140 444
'14 Q4 1,114 504
'15 Q1 1,451 440
'15 Q2 1,599 513

 

District Court Litigations

Figure 5: First half of 2015 had 11.1% more District Court cases initiated than the same period in 2014 and a 35.2% more than the second half of 2014.

Comparison of 1st Half of 2015 Patent Litigation Non-NPE NPE 2014 H1 2014 H2 2015 H1 0 1000 2000 3000 4000
NPE Non-NPE
2014 H1 1,797 949
2014 H2 1,293 963
2015 H1 2,075 975

Figure 6: High-Tech had the majority of District Court and PTAB initiated disputes.

Patent Disputes in the 1st Half of 2015 Litigation PTAB High-Tech Medical Other 0 750 1500 2250 3000
PTAB Litigation
High-Tech 582 2,073
Medical 144 360
Other 227 617

Figure 7: NPE litigation made up 68% of District Court cases initiated in the first half of 2015, compared to 65.4% in the same period last year and 57.3% in the second half of 2014.

NPE Activity: Litigation in the 1st Half of 2015 NPE (Individual) NPE (Patent Assertion Entity) NPE (Small Company) Operating Company University/Gov/NGO/Non- Profit 31.7% 62.4%
Entity Type # of Cases
NPE (Individual) 106
NPE (Patent Assertion Entity) 1,902
NPE (Small Company) 67
Operating Company 968
University/Gov/NGO/Non-Profit 7

Figure 8: NPE litigation made up 89.8% of High-Tech cases in the first half of 2015, compared to 85.0% in the same period last year and 82.5% in the second half of 2015.

NPE Activity: High-Tech Litigation in the 1st Half of 2015 NPE Non-NPE 10.1% 89.9%
Entity Number
NPE 1,864
Non-NPE 209

Figure 9: 94.3% of High-Tech cases related to NPEs were by Patent Assertion Entities.

NPE Activity: High-Tech Litigations by NPE Type NPE (Individual) NPE (Patent Assertion Entity) NPE (Small Company) 94.3%
Cases
NPE (Individual) 46
NPE (Patent Assertion Entity) 1,757
NPE (Small Company) 61

Figure 10: In the first half of 2015, 52.1% of High-Tech PTAB Petitions were filed against NPE Patent Owners.

NPE Activity: High-Tech PTAB Petitions in the 1st Half of 2015 NPE Non-NPE 47.9% 52.1%
Entity Number
NPE 303
Non-NPE 279

Figure 11: The number of 2015 patent litigation filings is projected to surpass 6000, the highest count ever.

Patent litigation across the past 5 years 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 ( Projected) 2500 3500 4500 5500 6500
Cases
2011 3,499
2012 5,378
2013 6,030
2014 5,002
2015 (Projected) 6,100

Figure 12: In Q2 2015, 71.4% of all litigation were NPE-generated.

Patent Litigation in 2015 '14 Q1 '14 Q2 '14 Q3 '14 Q4 '15 Q1 '15 Q2 0 500 1000 1500 2000
NPE Non-NPE
'14 Q1 779 494
'14 Q2 992 481
'14 Q3 649 491
'14 Q4 622 492
'15 Q1 934 517
'15 Q2 1,141 458

Figure 13: 68% of all cases filed in 2015 were NPE-related.

Case Filed by Entity NPE Operating Company Other Entity 31.7% 68%
Cases
NPE 2,075
Operating Company 968
Other Entity 7

Figure 14: 89.8% of all NPE-related litigation in 2015 was in the High-Tech sector.

NPE Litigation by Sector High-Tech Medical Other 8.7% 89.8%
Cases
High-Tech 1,864
Medical 180
Other 31

Figure 15: High-Tech was the only sector where a majority of 2015 cases were NPE-related.

Patent Litigation by Sector and Entity Other Medical Tech NPE Operating Company Other Entity 0 600 1200 1800 2400
Tech Medical Other
NPE 1,864 31 180
Operating Company 205 327 436
Other Entity 4 2 1

Figure 16: eDekka was 2015's largest individual NPE filer.

Top NPE Filers eDekka LLC Data Carriers LLC Wetro Lan LLC Eclipse IP LLC Loramax LLC Oberalis LLC 0 30 60 90 120
# of Cases
eDekka LLC 102
Data Carriers LLC 68
Wetro Lan LLC 56
Eclipse IP LLC 55
Loramax LLC 50
Oberalis LLC 50

Figure 17: Apple was 2015's top company most litigated against.

Top Companies Most Litigated Against (Counting only first-named defendants) Apple, Inc. Actavis, Inc. Amazon.com, Inc. Hewlett-Packard Company Mylan Pharmaceuticals, Inc. 15 18 21 24 27
Company # of Cases
Apple, Inc. 25
Actavis, Inc. 21
Amazon.com, Inc. 21
Hewlett-Packard Company 18
Mylan Pharmaceuticals, Inc. 18

Top Companies Most Litigated Against (Including subsidiaries and affiliates) Apple, Inc. Samsung Hewlett- Packard Company Actavis, Inc. Amazon.com, Inc. 20 25 30 35 40
Company # of Cases
Apple, Inc. 35
Samsung 33
Hewlett-Packard Company 32
Actavis, Inc. 25
Amazon.com, Inc. 24

 

PTAB

Figure 18: 953 PTAB petitions were filed in the first half of 2015, a 31% increase over the same period last year.

PTAB Petitions Filed Non-NPE NPE 2014 Q1 2014 Q2 2014 Q3 2014 Q4 2015 Q1 2015 Q2 0 150 300 450 600
NPE Non-NPE
2014 Q1 129 102
2014 Q2 309 188
2014 Q3 213 231
2014 Q4 275 229
2015 Q1 192 248
2015 Q2 207 306

Figure 19: 41.9% of PTAB petitions in 2015 so far were filed against NPEs.

PTAB Petitions by Type NPE Non-NPE 41.9% 58.1%
Entity Number
NPE 399
Non-NPE 554

Figure 20: 61.1% of 2015 PTAB petitions were High Tech related.

PTAB Petitions by Industry High-Tech Medical Other 23.8% 15.1% 61.1%
Cases
High-Tech 582
Medical 144
Other 227

Figure 21: 78.4% of 2015 PTAB petitions filed against NPEs were in the High Tech sector.

PTAB Petitions Against NPEs by Industry High-Tech Medical Other 17.8% 78.4%
Cases
High-Tech 313
Medical 15
Other 71

Figure 22: 85% of 2015 PTAB petitions filed against NPEs were against Patent Assertion Entities.

PTAB Petitions by NPE Type NPE (Individual) NPE (Patent Assertion Entity) NPE (Small Company) 12% 85%
Cases
NPE (Individual) 12
NPE (Patent Assertion Entity) 339
NPE (Small Company) 48

Figure 23: IPRs account for 90.4% of all 2015 PTAB petitions.

PTAB Petitions by Petition Type IPR CBM PGR 8.9% 90.4%
Cases
IPR 867
CBM 85
PGR 7

Figure 24: Top 5 PTAB Petitioners in 2015

Apple Inc. Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd Google Inc. TRW Automotive US LLC Ford Motor Company 0 20 40 60 80
Petitioner # of Petitions
Apple Inc. 64
Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd 33
Google Inc. 23
TRW Automotive US LLC 19
Ford Motor Company 17

Figure 25: Top 5 Patent Owners petitioned against in 2015

Innovative Display Technologies LLC Magna Electronics, Inc. Smartflash LLC PAICE LLC & ABELL FOUNDATION, INC. Global Touch Solutions, LLC 0 8 15 23 30
Patent Owners # of Petitions
Innovative Display Technologies LLC 29
Magna Electronics, Inc. 23
Smartflash LLC 17
PAICE LLC & ABELL FOUNDATION, INC. 15
Global Touch Solutions, LLC 13

 

Definitions

 

Sectors

High Tech = Software, Hardware, Networking, etc.
Medical = Pharmaceuticals, Medical Devices, Health Related Technologies, etc…
Other = Mechanical, Packaged Good, Sporting Equipment, etc…

Entities

Non Practicing Entity (NPE) = Company which derives the majority of its total revenue from Patent Licensing activities.
Operating Company or Op. Co.  = Company which derives most of its total revenue from Product Sales or Services.  Could be an SME or a large company.
Other Entity = Universities / Non-Profits / Government / Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs)
NPE (Patent Assertion Entities) = Entity whose primary activity is licensing patents and acquired most of its patents from another entity
NPE (Small Company) = Entity whose original activity was providing products and services, but now is primarily focused on monetizing its own patent portfolio.
NPE (Individual) = Entity owned of controlled by an individual inventor who is primarily focused on monetizing inventions patents by that individual inventor.
SME = Companies that make less than $200 million in annual revenue.

Venue in Federal District Court

E.D. Tex. = Eastern District of Texas
D. Del. = Delaware
C.D. Cal. = Central District of California
D.N.J. = New Jersey
N.D. Cal. = Northern District of California

Methodology

Total number of reported cases can vary based on what is included.  Unified made its best attempt to eliminate mistaken, duplicative, or changes in venue filings, hence the totals may vary by < 1% compared to other reporting entities.

This includes all District Court and PTAB litigations between January 1, 2015 and June 30th, 2015

Statistics include litigations initiated by NPEs or Declaratory Judgments (DJs) initiated by operating companies against NPEs.

Unified strives to accurately identify NPE through all available means, such as court filings, public documents, and product documentation.