http://www.mealeys.com/ Headline Legal Trends News from LexisNexis® en-us http://www.mealeys.com/XML/lexismealeyslogo.gif 130 29 http://www.mealeys.com Copyright 2006 http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=+18%2D45+Mealey%27s+Litig%2E+Rep%2E+Ins%2E+19+%282004%29+ If the current trend continues, there will again be fewer insurance cases filed in federal court this year than in 2003 and 2002, according to a report by LexisNexis. There were 3,991 cases in which "insurance" is the nature of suit filed in federal courts in the first half of 2004. That compares with 4,298 for the first half of last year and 4,463 in the first half of 2002. http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=+12%2D9+Mealey%27s+Litig%2E+Rep%2E+Patents+16+%282004%29+ New patent case filings in federal court increased by 4.2 percent between 2002 and 2003, continuing the upward trend that has resulted in a 130 percent increase in patent case filings from 1988 to 2003, according to a report released by LexisNexis. http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=+9%2D19+Mealey%27s+Emerg%2E+Drugs+Devices+26+%282004%29+ The convergence over the past five years of litigation involving drugs such as Baycol, Propulsid and Rezulin has resulted in a steady increase in the amount of drug cases reported by major drug companies, according to statistics compiled by LexisNexis. But the increase has slowed slightly as litigation matures and as drug companies begin to settle, the figures indicate.