Pedram Sameni
Jan 24, 2018
Featured

Patexia Insight 47: Top Law Firms Leading in IPR (Market Leaders)

Last year, we released the top law firms in IPR in terms of activity. We have updated the data and also expanded the date range to cover all IPR cases through the end of the second quarter in 2017. Fish & Richardson with 625 IPR challenges ranked first, followed by Sterne Kessler (558), Finnegan Henderson (473), WilmerHale (348), and Oblon (298). The five firms together have been involved in 2,302 IPR cases. Through the end of the second quarter, a total of 6,580 IPR cases had been filed.

We also reviewed the leaders on the petitioner and patent owner sides. Fish & Richardson is the most active firm and has represented petitioners or patent owners on approximately 10 percent of all IPR cases filed.

On the petitioner side, the mix was a bit different, although Fish & Richardson still remained at the top with 348 petitions filed. That accounts for more than 5 percent of all cases filed. WilmerHale with 279 was ranked second, followed by Finnegan (256), Baker Botts (226), and Sterne Kessler (221). The top five firms have been involved in approximately 20 percent of all IPR challenges filed through Q2 2017.

On the patent owner side, Sterne Kessler is the most active firm with 337 cases, followed by Fish & Richardson with 277. Similar to the other rankings, Finnegan (217) once again maintained the third position. However, the fourth and fifth positions here belong to two smaller firms, Law Offices of Dr. Gregory J. Gonsalves (180) and Ascenda Law Group (176). The top five firms representing the patent owners have been involved in approximately 18 percent of the 6,580 cases filed through the end of the Q2 2017.

To construct these charts, we reviewed all 6,580 cases filed before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) and identified the attorneys representing the petitioners or patent owners from one of the board documents, such as Institution Decision or Final Written Decision documents. A law firm will take the credit for a case only if the attorney was working for the firm at the time of one of those filings.

For Further Reading

We have released our first comprehensive IPR Intelligence Report in the Fall under our Patexia Insights arm, and it’s available for download. The report investigates IPR challenges from many angles, including the top 50 law firms representing petitioners and patent owners in terms of activity and performance. Also included is a ranking of petitioners, patent owners, and PTAB judges. The goal is to help both parties involved in IPR better understand this growing market and make informed choices about their service providers.

In the following weeks, we will share our analysis of the top performing law firms and attorneys representing petitioners and patent owners. If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.