The Leahy-Smith America Invents Act (AIA) was phased-in at the end of 2011 after more than a decade of discussion, but according to Law.com’s Corporate Counsel 2012 Patent Litigation Survey -- which ranks law firms according to how many federal district court patent suits they handled in 2011 – there was a substantial rise in the number of fresh cases.

Smartphone clashes

Intellectual property experts Fish & Richardson – with eight offices across the US, ranked first for the fourth consecutive year -- handled 173 cases in 2011, compared to 128 in 2010 representing an increase of 35 per cent. Likewise, Ohio’s Jones Day -- which took second place in this year's rankings -- saw its caseload jump from 66 to 125, an increase of 89 per cent.
Other highly ranked firms, including Atlanta-based Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton, Chicago’s Niro Haller & Niro and Kirkland & Ellis and transatlantic giant DLA Piper all saw a leap in their caseloads.
According to the research, the increase is fuelled by a 22 per cent jump in patent infringement actions filed, with 2011 reaching a record 4,015. The catalyst to the increase was technology-based patent suits, including high-profile smartphone clashes between Apple and Samsung, while so-called ‘patent trolls’ – those extracting value from their patent portfolios by suing companies for infringement – also contributed to the rise.

Runaway damages

‘Companies tend to look harder for value in their patent portfolios when the economy is down,’ commented Ann Cathcart Chaplin, head of the litigation practice at Fish & Richardson.
One positive outcome of the legislative reforms pointed out by Jones Day partner and intellectual property specialist Brian Poissant, is that the days of ‘runaway damages’ are ending. Lawyers have suggested that the Federal Circuit is starting to clamp down -- and in some cases throw out – on what it views as inflated awards. Mr Poissant said: ‘District courts will eventually get the message.’