Since our last blog post about the concentration of design patent cases filed against Schedule A defendants between 2020 and 2022 in the Northern District of Illinois, Lex Machina’s data indicates that these filings increased in that district in 2023 and continue to increase during the first half of 2024.
In 2023, 80 percent of all design patent cases filed against Schedule A defendants in the U.S. were filed in the Northern District of Illinois. These 127 design patent cases represent an 84 percent increase over 2022, when 69 cases were filed in that district. These 127 design patent cases against Schedule A defendants also comprised 54.3 percent of all patent cases filed in the Northern District of Illinois during the time period.
Lex Machina’s data from the first half of 2024 indicates that the popularity of the Northern District of Illinois for design patent cases against Schedule A defendants will continue. Between January 1, 2024 to June 30, 2024, 105 design patent cases were filed against Schedule A defendants in the Northern District of Illinois, or about 57.7 percent of all patent cases filed in the Northern District of Illinois during the time period. So far, these 105 cases represent 88 percent of all design patent cases filed against Schedule A defendants in the U.S. during the first half of 2024.
As noted previously, claimants in design patent cases filed against Schedule A defendants overwhelmingly prevail. This has not changed: of the 232 design patent cases filed against Schedule A defendants in the Northern District of Illinois between January 1, 2023 and June 30, 2024, where there is a case resolution, the claim defendant has never won.