Seven out of Ten Patent Jury Trials Favor Plaintiffs

Although only about 3% of patent cases ultimately go to a jury trial, understanding how jury verdicts break down can affect decisions made earlier in the course of litigation. Here, RPX has analyzed all patent jury verdicts rendered since 2014. This analysis shows that nationally, about seven out of ten patent jury trials favor plaintiffs, with the other three favoring defendants.

The Eastern District of Texas, the District of Delaware, and the Northern District of California generally follow this trend, with the District of Delaware having the highest plaintiff win rate (at 72%) and the Eastern District of Texas having the lowest plaintiff win rate (at 63%) of those districts. The lower plaintiff win rate at trial in the Eastern District of Texas may in part be the result of that venue’s high summary judgment denial rate (nearly 70%), which could result in more cases ending up before a jury that other districts may have resolved pre-trial, often in favor of defendants. The submission of those extra cases would likely increase the number of verdicts favoring defendants.