Extreme Value or Trolls on Top? The Characteristics of the Most-Litigated Patents

Patent trolls are variously portrayed as responsible for the majority of all patent lawsuits, for no more than 2%, or as mythical creatures that do not actually exist. Here, Allison et al identify the patents litigated most frequently between 2000 and 2007 and compare those patents to a control set...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:University of Pennsylvania law review 2009-12, Vol.158 (1), p.1-37
Main Authors: Allison, John R., Lemley, Mark A., Walker, Joshua
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Corporate entities
History of technology
Industrial areas
Injunctions
Inventions
Laws, regulations and rules
Legal entities
Litigation
Patent infringement
Patent law
Patent licenses
Prior art
Software
Start up firms
Telecommunications
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Description
Summary:Patent trolls are variously portrayed as responsible for the majority of all patent lawsuits, for no more than 2%, or as mythical creatures that do not actually exist. Here, Allison et al identify the patents litigated most frequently between 2000 and 2007 and compare those patents to a control set of patents that have been litigated only once in that period. The results show that most-litigated patents are far more likely to be software and telecommunications patents, not mechanical or other types of patents. They are significantly different from once-litigated patents in ways that signal their value up front. And they are disproportionately owned by nonpracticing entities.
ISSN:0041-9907
1942-8537