April 2015 Patent Dispute Report

Figure 1: April 2015 litigation dropped 28% from last month.  For the first third of 2015, litigation is down 7.6% from the first third of 2014.

Comparison of April 2015 Patent LitigationNon-NPENPE1st Third of 20141st Third of 2015Mar. 2015Apr. 20150500100015002000
NPENon-NPE
1st Third of 20141,313641
1st Third of 20151,122682
Mar. 2015312188
Apr. 2015226135
 

Figure 2: High-Tech had the majority of District Court and PTAB initiated disputes.

Patent Disputes in April 2015LitigationPTABHigh-TechMedicalOther0100200300400
PTABLitigation
High-Tech83240
Medical2944
Other3477
 

Figure 3: NPE litigation made up 62.6% of April 2015 initiated District Court cases, compared to 76.2% in April 2014 and 62.4% in March 2015.

 

NPE Activity: April 2015 LitigationNPENon-NPE37.4%62.6%
EntityNumber
NPE226
Non-NPE135

Figure 4: NPE litigation made up 83.3% of April 2015 High-Tech cases, compared to 93.3% in April 2014 and 85.8% in March 2015.

NPE Activity: April 2015 High-Tech LitigationNPENon-NPE16.7%83.3%
EntityNumber
NPE200
Non-NPE40
 

Figure 5:  In April 2015, 45% of High-Tech PTAB Petitions were filed against NPE Patent Owners.

NPE Activity: High-Tech PTAB Petitions in April 2015NPENon-NPE45.8%54.2%
EntityNumber
NPE38
Non-NPE45