In Q1 2020, Operating Company Litigation Outpaced Last Year’s First Quarter but Trailed Four-Year Average

RPX data show that in Q1 2020, operating companies filed significantly more patent litigation than the same period last year, adding 421 defendants to campaigns—20.6% higher than Q1 2019. Still, filings by operating companies in the first quarter of 2020 were down 7.6% compared to the Q1 average for 2016-2019. Notably, the Q1 tally in 2020 was boosted by cases asserting design patents, including a single campaign against dozens of online retailers. Excluding cases asserting only design patents, litigation by operating companies was roughly flat as compared to the first quarter of 2019.

For their part, NPEs filed more litigation in Q1 2020 than in any first quarter observed since 2015. In the first quarter, NPEs added 505 defendants to patent litigation campaigns, 16.9% higher than the corresponding quarter in 2019 and 13.8% higher than the four-year average for the first quarters of 2016-2019.

Defendants Added		Change Compared to:
	Q1 2020	Q1 2019	Q1 2016-2019 Average	Q4 2019
Operating Company	421	+20.6%	-7.6%	-20.6%
NPE	505	+16.9%	+13.8%	-2.3%
Total	926	+18.6%	+3.0%	-11.6%

Overall, 926 defendants were added to campaigns in Q1, an increase of 18.6% as compared to the first quarter of 2019 and slightly higher than the average for 2016-2019. Sequentially, the overall defendant count was down 11.6% compared to Q4 2019, consistent with seasonality patterns observed in past years.

See RPX’s first-quarter review for more information on litigation and market trends.

Defendants Added to Campaigns by Operating Companies

Note: More defendants were added by operating companies in Q4 2019 than were previously reported due to a single case filed under seal in November 2019 that was not unsealed until January 22. That lone case, filed by Doggie Dental against numerous individuals and entities alleged to have sold counterfeit toothbrushes for dogs, added more than 130 defendants to the prior total.