Last Year, 107 US Patent Lawsuits by Domestic Companies... 3.9% Increase Compared to Previous Year

Last year, there were 107 patent lawsuits filed by domestic and foreign companies in the United States, marking a 3.9% increase compared to the previous year.

The Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO) announced this information in the '2023 Intellectual Property (IP) Trend Annual Report' on the 28th.

Provided by the Korean Intellectual Property Office

According to the report, among the 107 patent lawsuits filed last year, 73 cases (68.2%) involved large corporations, while 34 cases (31.8%) involved small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and mid-sized companies, showing that lawsuits involving large corporations were more than twice as many.

However, patent lawsuits involving large corporations decreased by 2 cases from 75 in 2022 to 73 last year, whereas patent lawsuits involving SMEs and mid-sized companies increased by 6 cases from 28 in 2022 to 34.

The proportion of patent lawsuits involving domestic SMEs and mid-sized companies in the U.S. was 39.4% in 2019, 11.3% in 2020, 20.1% in 2021, 27.2% in 2022, and 31.8% in 2023, showing an upward trend since 2021.

Among all patent lawsuits involving SMEs and mid-sized companies last year, 19 cases were filed by these companies, and 15 cases were filed against them, indicating that domestic companies are actively exercising their patent rights against foreign companies.

Patent lawsuits filed by domestic companies in the U.S. last year, following 2022, were also concentrated in the electrical and electronics sectors such as computers, communications, and semiconductors. Lawsuits in this sector totaled 85 cases, accounting for 79.4% of all lawsuits. The proportion of patent lawsuits in the electrical and electronics sector among total lawsuits fluctuated as follows: 84.4% in 2019, 88.7% in 2020, 82.1% in 2021, 84.5% in 2022, and 79.4% in 2023.

KIPO highlights that among the 107 U.S. patent lawsuits, 23 cases (21.5%) were filed by domestic companies, while 84 cases (78.5%) were filed against them. Of the lawsuits filed against domestic companies, 64 cases (76.2%) were initiated by Non-Practicing Entities (NPEs), and 20 cases (23.8%) by manufacturers or others (non-NPEs).

Last year, patent lawsuits filed by NPEs against domestic companies slightly decreased compared to the previous year (74 cases, 86.0% of total). However, NPEs remain the primary filers targeting domestic companies in the U.S. In fact, NPEs accounted for over 70% of defendants in U.S. patent lawsuits against domestic companies annually: 71.6% in 2019, 72.8% in 2020, 86.0% in 2022, and 76.2% in 2023.

Patent lawsuits filed by NPEs were mainly concentrated on large corporations. For example, last year, 57 of the patent lawsuits filed by NPEs against domestic companies involved large corporations, representing 89.1% of all lawsuits filed.

NPEs are entities that do not engage in direct production activities but generate revenue solely through exercising patent rights using their owned patents.

Jung In-sik, Director of the Industrial Property Protection Cooperation Bureau at KIPO, stated, “We will strengthen monitoring activities to understand overseas patent disputes and NPE trends involving domestic companies,” adding, “We will promptly provide consulting support on patent dispute response strategies to companies identified through monitoring as involved in overseas patent disputes.”