Fullbright & Jaworski Publishes 2007 Litigation Survey

Now on their 4th installment, the law firm of Fulbright & Jaworski has published the 2007 edition of "Litigation Trends Survey Findings." There were 253 U.S. corporate counsel and 50 U.K. corporate counsel that participated in this year's survey. Notably, this year's survey includes a new section on patents and trademarks.

• The respondents to the survey claimed that patent infringement claims are rising. Over the last 3 years, more than 1/3 of U.S. respondents believe patent infringement claims have increased; 2/3 of the respondents from the U.K. agree. More than 1/2 of the companies with $1B or more in revenue are claiming an increase in the number of patent infringement claims they have received.

• Notably, 68% of U.S. Companies have not had any patent infringement claims asserted against them over the last 3 years. 19% report 1 to 5 claims, 8% claim 6 to 10 claims, and 5% claims 11 to 20 claims.

• Three industries were identified as ones most likely to have received patent claims in the past 3 years: manufacturing, retail/wholesale and technology/communication.

• When surveyed on approaches in defending against patent infringement, the survey split the respondents into 3 groups: small (under $100M), medium ($100M-$999M) and large (over $1B). Here's how they explained some of their approaches in defending patent infringement:

Never Defend
Small - 0%
Medium - 21%
Large - 11%

Negotiate License to Avoid Litigation
Small - 20%
Medium - 39%
Large - 22%

Litigate to Final Judgment
Small - 40%
Medium - 46%
Large - 41%

Obtain Written Opinion of Outside Counsel
Small - 0%
Medium - 11%
Large - 26%

• Two-thirds of all respondents felt that recent developments in patent law had made no impact on infringement claims. U.S. respondents were more likely to believe that the developments increased the chances of defending claims through litigation (20%) than to believe they had decreased the chances (12%)

• Over the past 3 years, only 27% of U.S. respondents said that their companies had filed patent infringement claims against others.

• When surveyed on the approaches used for enforcing patents, the following responses were given:

No Patents to Enforce
Small - 10%
Medium - 19%
Large - 11%

Take Actions Short of Litigation
Small - 70%
Medium - 38%
Large - 34%

Litigate as Part of Licensing Strategy
Small - 10%
Medium - 29%
Large - 32%

Litigate Only After Failed Licensing Attempts
Small - 10%
Medium - 14%
Large - 27%

There is a lot of other information in this 53-page report. To download a free copy (after completing an on-line form), click here (link)