Patent filings for entity companies exceed NPE, but U.S. lawsuits are still sluggish

In the first three months of this year, the number of new patent lawsuits accepted by the US District Courts was less than 900, which was the number of lawsuits falling for the third consecutive quarter.

Data from UnifiedPatents shows that the number of newly filed lawsuits in the first quarter was 875, a slight increase from the fourth quarter of 2017 (873) - but it still decreased compared with the same period of last year. For the first three months, the District Court A total of 923 new lawsuits were accepted.

The latest statistics show that patent litigation has remained relatively stable in the past year. In the past five quarters, the number of patent litigation applications in each quarter was less than 1000. In 2015 and 2016, the United States had only one quarter. The number of cases (Q1 2016) is less than 1000. It can be clearly seen from the situation in recent years (but it has become particularly prominent in the past 12 months). The U.S. patent system reform carried out by the Congress and the courts. The influence of the litigation atmosphere and the ability of the patentee to enforce patent rights in the court have a significant impact.

But the most significant point in the comments of Unified Patents is that in the first quarter, the number of cases filed by non-practicing entities (NPEs) was lower than the amount filed by non-NPE entities.