<b><i>Online Extra:</b></i> After a Dip, Patent Litigation Is on the Rise

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'At this rate, 2015 is on track to exceed 6,000 cases by the end of the year,' said Josh Becker, Lex Machina's chief executive officer. That would beat the record set in 2013.

Lex Machina said the steep increase in filings in June was unexpected because the number of filings in previous years tended to dip from spring to summer.

The new data comes a week after'Unified Patents released its own analysis'of filings for the first half of 2015. The findings of the two entities were similar.

Both found, for example, that the number of cases filed by nonpracticing entities was significant. Unified Patents said 68% of new cases in the first half of the year were filed by nonpracticing entities (NPEs), compared with 65.4% in the same period last year and 57.3% in the second half of 2014.

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In the high-tech sector, NPEs accounted for 90% of patent cases, according to Unified Patents. In the same period a year ago, NPEs accounted for about 85%.

The Eastern District of Texas, a favored forum for NPEs, reclaimed its status as the busiest district, according to Lex Machina. In the first half of this year, it had an increase of 166 percent in new patent cases compared with the second half of last year.

'The Eastern District accounted for about 45% of all cases filed in the first half of the year,' Becker said.

The District of Delaware's share of cases, meanwhile, has declined from the latter part of 2014 by more than one-third, Lex Machina's analysis revealed.

Some of the increase in case filings can probably be attributed to an expectation that some version of patent reform will pass this year, Becker said, but he added that patent reform does not explain the extent of the increase.

'We saw a spike last year in April when patent reform was making news,' he said. 'But then it went back down and stayed flat for the next nine months.'

The jump this year, however, has been relatively steady and significant, Becker said. 'I don't think it's just because of the expected reforms.'

The number of filings usually dips in the summer, so Becker would not be surprised to see them decline in July and August.

Earlier this year, groups that oppose the various patent reform measures being discussed in Congress pointed to the decline in the number of new lawsuits filed in 2014 as evidence that the legislation is unnecessary. They no longer use that argument.

Lex Machina also examined the number of patent challenges filed at the Patent Trial and Appeal Board. In the first half of the year, 953 PTAB petitions were filed, a 31% increase over the same period last year. About 41.9% of those petitions were filed against NPEs, according to Lex Machina.

Lisa Shuchman'is a Reporter for'Corporate Counsel, an ALM sibling of'The Intellectual Property Strategist, in which this article originally appeared.

Patent litigation, which only a few months ago appeared to be declining, is actually rising significantly.

More than 3,000 patent lawsuits were filed in the first six months of the year, the highest number of new district court cases on record and an increase of more than 11% compared with the first half of 2014, according to'statistics released Tuesday by Lex Machina.

In this year's second quarter, the number of new lawsuits totaled 1,656, the highest ever for any quarter. May saw 607 filed and June had 654.

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'At this rate, 2015 is on track to exceed 6,000 cases by the end of the year,' said Josh Becker, Lex Machina's chief executive officer. That would beat the record set in 2013.

Lex Machina said the steep increase in filings in June was unexpected because the number of filings in previous years tended to dip from spring to summer.

The new data comes a week after'Unified Patents released its own analysis'of filings for the first half of 2015. The findings of the two entities were similar.

Both found, for example, that the number of cases filed by nonpracticing entities was significant. Unified Patents said 68% of new cases in the first half of the year were filed by nonpracticing entities (NPEs), compared with 65.4% in the same period last year and 57.3% in the second half of 2014.

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In the high-tech sector, NPEs accounted for 90% of patent cases, according to Unified Patents. In the same period a year ago, NPEs accounted for about 85%.

The Eastern District of Texas, a favored forum for NPEs, reclaimed its status as the busiest district, according to Lex Machina. In the first half of this year, it had an increase of 166 percent in new patent cases compared with the second half of last year.

'The Eastern District accounted for about 45% of all cases filed in the first half of the year,' Becker said.

The District of Delaware's share of cases, meanwhile, has declined from the latter part of 2014 by more than one-third, Lex Machina's analysis revealed.

Some of the increase in case filings can probably be attributed to an expectation that some version of patent reform will pass this year, Becker said, but he added that patent reform does not explain the extent of the increase.

'We saw a spike last year in April when patent reform was making news,' he said. 'But then it went back down and stayed flat for the next nine months.'

The jump this year, however, has been relatively steady and significant, Becker said. 'I don't think it's just because of the expected reforms.'

The number of filings usually dips in the summer, so Becker would not be surprised to see them decline in July and August.

Earlier this year, groups that oppose the various patent reform measures being discussed in Congress pointed to the decline in the number of new lawsuits filed in 2014 as evidence that the legislation is unnecessary. They no longer use that argument.

Lex Machina also examined the number of patent challenges filed at the Patent Trial and Appeal Board. In the first half of the year, 953 PTAB petitions were filed, a 31% increase over the same period last year. About 41.9% of those petitions were filed against NPEs, according to Lex Machina.

Lisa Shuchman'is a Reporter for'Corporate Counsel, an ALM sibling of'The Intellectual Property Strategist, in which this article originally appeared.