Patexia Insight 203: Top Patent Litigators of 2024
In January, we released our Patent Litigation Intelligence Report, a comprehensive analysis essential for all stakeholders involved in patent disputes. This report examines all district court patent litigation cases filed from July 1, 2018, to June 30, 2023, extracting statistics and conducting thorough evaluations and rankings of attorneys, law firms, and companies involved. The process allows us to highlight the most active and best-performing entities, empowering stakeholders to make informed decisions in patent litigation. In our previous insights, we've covered various aspects of patent litigation, including the top litigation venues, lateral moves, top companies, and top law firms. Today, our focus shifts to highlighting the top attorneys in the field.
As seen above, the number of patent litigation cases filed yearly and the patents involved in those cases follow somewhat different trends. The cases reached their peak, rising from 3,420 in 2018 to 3,953 in 2021. From then on, the trend declined to 3,108 cases filed in 2023, marking a decrease of 17.47% from 2022. The number of patents involved rose from 4,182 in 2022 to 4,287 in 2023, while the year 2021 saw the highest number of patents, with 5,207. An increase in the ratio of patents per case suggests that the cases are quite complex in nature, featuring multiple patents. Conversely, a decrease in the ratio indicates scenarios where a single case is filed against multiple defendants. This implies that one or more plaintiffs may have asserted the same set of patents against various companies. Considering both the number of cases and the patents involved, we calculated the activity for each entity. Performance evaluation on the other hand involves analyzing outcomes from terminated cases, including dismissals, settlements, and judgment decisions. Points are allocated accordingly to all parties and their representatives. For detailed insights into our ranking methodology, please refer to the comprehensive explanation provided here.
During our study period from July 1, 2018, to June 30, 2023, district courts collectively witnessed the filing of 18,191 unique patent cases, involving 17,285 unique patents. Utilizing data updated as of December 1, 2023, we identified 1,359 judges, 3,309 law firms, 30,671 companies, and 15,808 attorneys participating in these cases. Breaking down the figures, 10,063 attorneys were dedicated to representing plaintiffs, while 10,727 were focused on defending defendants. On average, attorneys representing defendants took on the challenge of 3.8 patent cases, while their counterparts advocating for plaintiffs handled an average of 5 patent cases.
Below is a table highlighting some of the very best patent litigation attorneys, as ranked by activity or performance in the Patent Litigation Intelligence Report. Being mentioned in the top 300 means they belong to the top two percentile.
The complete 2024 Patexia Patent Litigation Report offers an extensive examination of all entities, including patent litigation attorneys, alongside comprehensive rankings for the top 1,000 most active. Rankings and scores are derived from six distinct categories, considering the activity and performance of entities acting as plaintiffs, defendants, and overall participants. Likewise, the report provides rankings for law firms and companies, alongside a dedicated section for judges involved during the study period. Notably, the report includes a "plaintiff score" for judges, indicating the probability of a favorable verdict for the plaintiff side.
Stay tuned as in the following weeks, we will be publishing more highlights from our intelligence reports, including the Section 337 ITC Intelligence 2024 Report.