Q3 in Review: US NPE Upswing Continues as UPC Comes Further into Focus
US patent litigation continued to rise in the third quarter of 2024, increasing by 20% compared to Q3 2023. NPE filings went up for the third quarter in a row, rising by 27% in Q3, while operating company filings ticked upward by 11%.
Additionally, the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) has continued to face pushback over its discretionary denial practices, including through an ongoing lawsuit challenging the NHK-Fintiv rule that returned to the Federal Circuit for a second time in Q3—as ex parte reexaminations, their popularity steadily growing due to NHK-Fintiv, jumped substantially this past quarter.
Meanwhile, courts issued several significant decisions on standard essential patent (SEP) matters in the third quarter, including a UK High Court ruling that dismissed an unprecedented rate-setting claim against patent pool Avanci, LLC and a long-awaited UK Court of Appeal judgment that revisited the royalty rate awarded to InterDigital, Inc. last year in the country’s second-ever fair, reasonable, and nondiscriminatory (FRAND) determination. Furthermore, two SEP lawsuits in the US—one involving InterDigital and Lenovo, and the other targeting pool administrator Access Advance LLC—have taken a somewhat unusual trip through US state law.
Moreover, Europe’s Unified Patent Court (UPC) has continued to take shape after its first year, with data showing a Germany-centric caseload and reflecting the court’s growing popularity with NPEs. The UPC’s first crop of substantive judgments also reveal how the court has begun to handle key issues like infringement, invalidity, and injunctive relief, though its approach to other areas of law—including FRAND counterclaims—remains in flux.
Finally, several notable patent transactions were executed or made public in the third quarter, including one involving a prominent litigation finance firm, while multiple NPE campaigns were launched with the backing of third-party funders.
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