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February 7, 2006
Litigation Big Fish
IP
Law 360 reported the patent firms with the most new litigation cases in 2005.
The purely quantitative statistical survey looked at the number of times a firm
was hired as patent counsel in new cases.
| Rank | Firm | Cases |
| 1. | Fish & Richardson | 82 |
| 2. | Jones Day | 60 |
| 3. | DLA Piper | 60 |
| 4. | Howrey | 45 |
| 5. | Greenberg Traurig | 45 |
| 6. | Foley & Lardner | 41 |
| 7. | McDermott Will & Emery | 41 |
| 8. | Sidley Austin | 41 |
| 9. | Kilpatrick Stockton | 40 |
| 10. | Morrison & Foerster | 39 |
| 10. | Townsend & Townsend |
39 |
Breaking a decade-long trend, the number of patent lawsuits dipped 11% in 2005, to 2,651. Over the preceding decade, lawsuits had risen by 78%, though district court cases had only risen 12%; these statistics from the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts.
The drop in litigation had an impact on the above-listed top 10 firms: all but one took fewer cases last year. Kilpatrick Stockton saw its caseload jump from 20 to 40.
Nonetheless, business is good: payouts remain stratospheric, and there is plenty of work to go around.
Posted by Patent Hawk at February 7, 2006 6:22 PM | Litigation