Lex Machina Releases its 2024 Patent Litigation Report

Lex Machina is proud to release its 2024 Patent Litigation Report, which provides insights into patent litigation trends in federal district court and appellate court over the three-year period from 2021 to 2023. This report surveys emerging trends in case filings (including federal appellate cases), most active venues, judges, law firms, attorneys, parties, timing metrics, case resolutions, findings, and damages. The report often focuses on different sets of data, e.g., filtering cases in order to provide analytics on general patent, high-volume plaintiff, ANDA, PTAB, and federal appellate cases.

Key Trends and Highlights from the report include:

Highlights in federal district and appellate courts

• In 2023, 3,111 patent cases were filed, continuing the steady decline of patent case filings since 2021.
• The Western District of Texas was the most active district from 2021 to 2023 with 22% of all patent cases filed, though the number of patent cases filed in 2023 in this court dropped significantly compared to the previous two years.
• Judge Albright was assigned to the highest number of patent cases from 2021 to 2023 with 1,844 cases, though his assigned patent cases in 2023 dropped significantly compared to the previous two years.
• Ramey represented plaintiffs in the highest number of patent cases filed from 2021 to 2023, and Fish & Richardson represented defendants in the highest number of cases filed in the same three-year period.
• For patent cases that were appealed to a federal appellate court and terminated from 2021 to 2023 with a decision on the merits of the appeal, 34% were ultimately reversed.
• From 2021 to 2023, $6 billion in total damages were awarded as Reasonable Royalty across 129 cases.

Highlights in PTAB

• The number of PTAB petitions filed dropped in 2023.
• There was a slight increase in instituted trials compared with the data reported in the 2023 Patent Litigation Report (from 51% to 54%).
• For PTAB cases that were appealed to a federal appellate court and terminated from 2021 to 2023 with a decision on the merits of the appeal, 22% were ultimately reversed.
• Samsung was the most active petitioner in PTAB petitions filed during the three-year period from 2021 to 2023.
• Fish & Richardson represented parties in the highest number of petitions filed from 2021 to 2023.

View our infographic.

Legal Analytics is used for planning, budgeting, and litigation strategy. The metrics in this report can help readers decide who to pursue as clients, whether to file a particular motion, or when to settle (and for how much). This research supplements traditional legal research and anecdotal data in order to gain a competitive edge in litigation.

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