Intellectual Property: IP Litigation Increased in 1H 2011

On July 7, an article on Law 360 reported that lntellectual property litigation increased in the first half of 2011 compared to the first half of 2010. Using data from Pacer, the electronic case data system for the federal courts, the article noted that while litigation across practice areas increased only slightly by about 1.3 percent, "litigants initiated 4,872 patent, copyright and trademark cases in U.S. federal courts within the last six months." This constituted a nearly 13 percent increase over the 4,317 cases filed in the first half of 2010.
New copyright actions filed increased from 910 to 1,140 (nearly 25.3 percent); patent filings increased from 1,605 to 1,929 (nearly 20.2 percent); and trademarks filings increased negligibly from 1,802 to 1,803.