During
my research I came across the following study: “2014 Patent Litigation Study: As
case volume leaps, damages continue general decline” my pwc.
In the study it stated that "In some ways, 2013 appeared to be a moderating year in patent infringement
litigation. The “mega” verdicts of prior years (2012 saw three cases that
resulted in damages awards of over $1 billion) were missing, with the largest
new award falling to just over $200 million. Four of the ten largest awards
from previous years were settled, overturned, modified or remain under appeal
in 2013. And the median damages award continued its gradual downward
tapering, to $4.3 million in the most recent four-year period. "
They also listed some key observations in the study such as:
1. Median damages awards continue to trend down—to $4.3 million in recent years.
2. Damages awards for NPEs averaged more than triple those for practicing entities over the last four years.
3. The median jury award amounted to nearly 37.5 times the median bench award between 2010 and 2013.
4. Reasonable royalties remain the predom- inant measure of patent damages, consistently representing around 80% of awards since 2000. However, lost profits showed a surprising resurgence over the last four years, growing to a 37% share of the awards.
5. NPEs have been successful 25% of the time overall, versus 35% for practicing entities, due to the relative lack of success for NPEs at summary judgment. However, both types of entities win about two-thirds of their trials.
6. The median damages award in the tele- communications industry was the highest, at $22 million over the full study period. Biotechnology/pharmaceutical, medical devices, and computer hardware/elec- tronics also had relatively high median damages awards, at double to triple the overall median across all industries.
7. The top four districts in terms of favorability to patent holders (Virginia Eastern, Delaware, Texas Eastern and Wisconsin Western) remain the same as last year’s study.
Take a look at the full study here: http://www.pwc.com/en_US/us/forensic-services/publications/assets/2014-patent-litigation-study.pdf
They also listed some key observations in the study such as:
1. Median damages awards continue to trend down—to $4.3 million in recent years.
2. Damages awards for NPEs averaged more than triple those for practicing entities over the last four years.
3. The median jury award amounted to nearly 37.5 times the median bench award between 2010 and 2013.
4. Reasonable royalties remain the predom- inant measure of patent damages, consistently representing around 80% of awards since 2000. However, lost profits showed a surprising resurgence over the last four years, growing to a 37% share of the awards.
5. NPEs have been successful 25% of the time overall, versus 35% for practicing entities, due to the relative lack of success for NPEs at summary judgment. However, both types of entities win about two-thirds of their trials.
6. The median damages award in the tele- communications industry was the highest, at $22 million over the full study period. Biotechnology/pharmaceutical, medical devices, and computer hardware/elec- tronics also had relatively high median damages awards, at double to triple the overall median across all industries.
7. The top four districts in terms of favorability to patent holders (Virginia Eastern, Delaware, Texas Eastern and Wisconsin Western) remain the same as last year’s study.
Take a look at the full study here: http://www.pwc.com/en_US/us/forensic-services/publications/assets/2014-patent-litigation-study.pdf
Hey Vruti, you did a great job in summarizing this PwC case. Next time, add a bit more information to the blog post per point!
ReplyDeleteI think you article is great. Particularly I like how the study is done by PwC. I will be doing advisory work in a similar big 4 in SF when I graduate! :D
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