NPE Litigation Ticked Up Last Quarter as Operating Company Activity Dipped Further
March 2, 2022
NPEs added 551 defendants to patent litigation campaigns in Q4 2021—up slightly from the same quarter last year though down by around 8% compared to Q3 and beating the trailing fourth-quarter 2018-2020 average by 16.1%. Litigation from file-and-settle monetization firm IP Edge LLC, the most litigious plaintiff of the past several years, was responsible for just under 28% of all NPE activity last quarter, or around 150 defendants added.
Meanwhile, operating companies added 299 defendants in the fourth quarter, or about 13% less than both the year-ago quarter and the trailing average. Operating company litigation was lower in each quarter last year except Q3, compared to each of the same periods in 2020—continuing a long-term downward trend that began in 2010. However, as noted in another recent analysis, much of the downturn in recent years is due to a drop in ANDA litigation targeting generic drugmakers.
| Defendants Added | Change Compared to: | ||||
| Q4 2021 | Q4 2020 | Q4 2018-2020 Average | Q3 2021 | ||
| NPE | 551 | 3.0% | 16.1% | -7.9% | |
| Operating Company | 299 | -13.1% | -13.6% | 2.4% | |
| Total | 850 | -3.3% | 3.6% | -4.5% | |
Overall, plaintiffs added 850 defendants to patent litigation campaigns in Q4 2021, down slightly from the third quarter as well as Q4 2020 but just above the trailing quarterly average.
See RPX’s latest quarterly report for more on litigation in the fourth quarter and 2021, including an analysis of year-over-year trends.
