The Unified Patent Litigation Report:
NPEs are Responsible for 85% of High Tech Litigation
Despite an Overall Patent Litigation Decline in Q3 2014
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2014 is on track to be the 2nd most litigious year in patent history
Los Altos, CA, October 30, 2014 – Although overall patent litigation filings declined in the 3rd quarter, total patent litigation for 2014 is on track to easily be the 2nd most litigious year in history. Total patent litigations for 2014 are expected to exceed the 5038 litigations filed in 2012 (currently the second most litigious year after the high reached in 2013).
Patent litigation data maintained by Unified Patents reveals that while overall patent litigation declined, High Tech remained the most targeted technology area and NPE activity remained at historically high levels.
The total number of patent litigations in the third quarter (1145) declined 23% from the second quarter (1473), which had represented a 16% increase over the first quarter (1269). Looking more closely at the cases, High-tech litigation continued to lead all sectors with 58% of all patent litigation filed (655 of 1124), which is down from the 66% in Q2 2014 (975 of 1467) and in Q1 2014 (814 of 1226). As a percentage, NPE activity appeared to remain surprisingly consistent, showing that patent litigation is down across the board. In High Tech, NPE activity made up 85% in Q3, 88% in Q2, and 82% in Q1.
"Although patent litigation is down from its levels in 2013, we are still observing historically high numbers for overall patent litigation in 2012." said Shawn Ambwani, Chief Operating Officer of Unified Patents. "It's too early to tell what has led the decline since 2013 but it is clear that High Tech is still experiencing significant NPE activity."
About Unified Patents
Unified patents was founded in 2012 to provide operating companies an alternative resource to curb abusive patent litigation. Unified Patents addresses the risk and cost of NPE litigation by strategically protecting areas of technology, such as Cloud Storage and Content Delivery. Unified's unique solution draws on the overlap between large companies, SMEs and startups to proactively deter NPE activity. For more information about Unified or about becoming a member of one or more of its Zones, visit www.unifiedpatents.com.