Patent case filings have been generally higher in the first five months of 2015 than in the last 8 months of 2014. May of 2015 had the most patent cases filed on any month so far this year (606 cases).
Fig 1: Patent cases filed Jan 2014 through May 2015 (2015 in orange).
Fig 2: Patent cases filed 2013 – May 2015
Compared to previous years, the first five months of 2015 look most comparable to 2013, when monthly filing rates also hovered around 500 cases per month.
Fig 3: Patent cases filed 2013 – May 2015 (stacked)
Previous years have had a rise in patent case filings in late spring, in similar magnitude to the rise in May 2015. Previous years have also seen slower summers after the late spring rise.
Compared to the last 5 months of 2014 (August through December), more patent cases are being filed in the Eastern District of Texas – a 133% increase in 2015 so far. On the other hand, the District of Delaware’s proportional share of the cases has declined from the latter part of 2014 by approximately one third.
Fig 4: Patent cases filings in last 5 months of 2014, first 5 months of 2014, and percentage change (showing top 10 districts by 2015 filings).
Also notable is the increase in patent cases filed in the Northern District of Texas, largely attributable to litigation brought by Avioniqs LLC (31 cases) and Industrial Print Technologies LLC (15 cases).