Last week, Managing IP published analysis of US district court patent litigation in the first six months of the year. You can read that – including rankings of the top plaintiffs, defendants and law firms – here.
US district court patent litigation by month |
||||
2013 |
2014 |
2015 |
2016 |
|
January |
486 |
330 |
445 |
276 |
February |
547 |
447 |
492 |
297 |
March |
403 |
499 |
509 |
393 |
April |
604 |
681 |
391 |
456 |
May |
502 |
387 |
608 |
385 |
June |
484 |
415 |
653 |
460 |
July |
476 |
421 |
478 |
407 |
August |
521 |
396 |
309 |
|
September |
552 |
320 |
327 |
|
October |
515 |
340 |
439 |
|
November |
578 |
334 |
840 |
|
December |
422 |
439 |
279 |
|
Total for year |
6,090 |
5,009 |
5,770 |
2,674 |
Source: Docket Navigator |
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Using the Docket Navigator database, Managing IP has analysed the data from July patent litigation. A total of 407 cases were filed during the month, down 11% from 460 in July.
The July data means 2016 is still greatly lagging the previous three years. If the monthly average for the year were to stay the same for the whole year, a total of 4,584 cases would be filed this year. This compares with 5,770 in 2015, 5,009 in 2014 and 6,090 in 2013.
The month was the third biggest of the year so far, however, behind the 460 June figure and 456 cases in April. The second quarter and July are up on a slow start to the year in which January and February both had fewer than 300 cases filed.
The start of the year was affected in part by the 840 cases filed in November 2015 ahead of new Federal Rules of Civil Procedure that became effective in December. This likely brought forward the filing of many cases that would otherwise have been filed in the first quarter of this year.
Top plaintiffs in cases filed July 2016 |
Top defendants in cases filed July 2016 |
|||
Plaintiff |
Count |
Defendant |
Count |
|
Pherah |
18 |
Huawei |
5 |
|
Semantic Search Technologies |
17 |
Avaya |
4 |
|
Uniloc |
16 |
Actavis |
3 |
|
Guyzar |
15 |
ASUS Computer International |
3 |
|
Dynavair |
12 |
Microsoft |
3 |
|
Solocron Education |
12 |
Valve Corporation |
3 |
|
Packet Tread |
9 |
ADT |
2 |
|
Peppermint Hills |
9 |
Akeso Health Sciences |
2 |
|
Shipping and Transit |
8 |
Amazon.com |
2 |
|
T-Rex Property |
8 |
APMEX |
2 |
|
Sportbrain Holdings |
7 |
Apple |
2 |
|
Blackbird Tech |
6 |
Aurobindo Pharma |
2 |
|
Lexos Media IP |
6 |
Barco |
2 |
|
Lighting Science Group |
6 |
Bitrix |
2 |
|
Mod Stack |
6 |
Brian J Jackson |
2 |
|
Somaltus |
6 |
Cecilia R Dickson |
2 |
|
Vari-Volt Technologies |
6 |
Cisco Systems |
2 |
|
Computer Tracking Systems |
5 |
Crocs |
2 |
|
Digital Audio Encoding Systems |
5 |
Intel |
2 |
|
Samuel Lit |
5 |
Nordstrom |
2 |
|
Symbology Innovations |
5 |
Salesforce.com |
2 |
|
USB Technologies |
5 |
ShoreTel |
2 |
|
ComCam International |
4 |
SKECHERS |
2 |
|
Maxon Industries |
4 |
TangoMe |
2 |
|
Nokia |
4 |
TomTom |
2 |
|
Smart Wearable Technologies |
4 |
TWi Pharmaceuticals |
2 |
|
Akeso Health Sciences |
3 |
Ubisoft |
2 |
|
AstraZeneca |
3 |
ZTE |
2 |
|
Blue Spike |
3 |
|||
Electronic Communication Technologies |
3 |
|||
InfoGation |
3 |
|||
Oakley |
3 |
|||
Whirlpool |
3 |
|||
Source: Docket Navigator |
||||
The most-active plaintiffs
The plaintiff filing the most cases in July was Pherah, with 18, followed by Semantic Search Technologies, with 17.
Top plaintiffs in cases filed Jan 1- July 31 2016 |
|
Plaintiff |
Count |
Shipping and Transit |
90 |
Uniloc USA |
68 |
Sportbrain Holdings |
55 |
Guyzar |
35 |
Verified Hiring |
34 |
T-Rex Property |
33 |
Hawk Technology Systems |
31 |
Global Equity Management (SA) |
31 |
Digital Audio Encoding Systems |
29 |
Solocron Education |
29 |
Whirlpool Corporation |
26 |
Pico Byte Systems |
25 |
Symbology Innovations |
22 |
PanTaurus |
20 |
Source: Docket Navigator |
|
Pherah’s cases were its second round of litigation ever, following 20 cases filed in November last year. All 38 cases were filed in the Eastern District of Texas against e-commerce and software companies and asserting one patent: Patent RE44652, titled “Computer-readable data product for managing sales information”. Pharah is a limited liability company based on Plano, Texas.
Semantic Search Technologies filed 17 cases in July, all in the Eastern District of Texas. These are its first ever filings. The cases assert between two and four patents, all titled “Computer-aided extraction of semantics from keywords to confirm match of buyer offers to seller bids”. Defendants include well-known names such as Aldo, Bose, Skechers and Guess. Semantic Search Technologies is also based in Plano, Texas. Its website gives little more information.
The month also saw some of the busiest plaintiffs so far this year continue to file. Uniloc filed 16 cases, bringing its total to 68. Guyzar filed 15 cases, bringing its total to 35.
The top plaintiff of 2016 so far, Shipping and Transit, filed eight cases, pushing its 2016 total to 90. Sportbrain also filed eight cases, Blackbird Tech filed six, Digital Audio Encoding Systems filed five, and Whirlpool filed three.
Top plaintiffs in cases filed H1 2016 |
Top defendants in cases filed H1 2016 |
|||||||||
Plaintiff |
Count |
Defendant |
Count |
|||||||
Shipping and Transit |
82 |
Samsung Electronics |
25 |
|||||||
Uniloc USA |
52 |
Actavis |
24 |
|||||||
Sportbrain Holdings |
47 |
AT&T |
23 |
|||||||
Hawk Technology Systems |
30 |
LG Electronics |
18 |
|||||||
Global Equity Management |
29 |
Apple |
17 |
|||||||
Verified Hiring |
27 |
Amazon.com |
13 |
|||||||
T-Rex Property |
26 |
Huawei |
13 |
|||||||
Digital Audio Encoding Systems |
24 |
Microsoft Corporation |
13 |
|||||||
Pico Byte Systems |
24 |
T-Mobile US |
13 |
|||||||
Whirlpool Corporation |
23 |
Mylan |
12 |
|||||||
Guyzar |
19 |
Cellco Partnership |
11 |
|||||||
Kobace |
19 |
Lenovo Group |
11 |
|||||||
PanTaurus |
20 |
Sprint Corporation |
11 |
|||||||
Magnacross |
17 |
10 |
||||||||
Venus Locations |
17 |
HTC |
10 |
|||||||
Sony Corporation |
10 |
|||||||||
ZTE Corporation |
10 |
|||||||||
Source: Docket Navigator |
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