NPE Activity Catches Up to 1H 2021 Due to Q2 Boost

For the first half of 2022, NPE activity was slightly ahead of that same period last year by 2%, with 1,203 defendants added to patent litigation campaigns—broadly in line with the trend seen since 2018. While Q1 2022 saw 10% less litigation compared to an unusually active first quarter last year, NPEs more than made up the difference in Q2 2022, which was up by 13% from Q2 2021. As a result, NPEs had their busiest first half of the year since 2016. The contribution of prolific monetization firm IP Edge LLC held steady once again, accounting for about 25% of the NPE campaign defendants added in 1H 2022.

NPEs added 676 defendants to litigation campaigns in Q2 2022—up 13% from the same quarter last year (as noted above) and up 28% from Q1, beating the trailing second-quarter 2019-2021 average by 17%. In the second quarter of 2022, NPEs were responsible for 73% of all patent litigation.

See RPX’s second-quarter review for more on trends impacting patent litigation and the patent marketplace.