IP Litigation on the rise in Virginia too
IPLaw360 just published an article (link below) using statistics from PACER to conclude that IP litigation is on the rise. That made us wonder how things are going in Virginia’s federal courts.
According to the IPLaw360 article, IP litigation is up 13% in the first half of 2011, as compared to 2010, with copyright and patent cases leading the way. Virginia’s courts also show a rise. .jpg)
The Eastern District has had 101 IP cases filed so far in 2011, compared to 160 in all of 2010. A graphic showing the totals for years since 1990 is at the right. 2011 could be the second year in which the Eastern District has cracked the 200 IP case barrier.
Breaking things down by case type (determined by PACER “nature of suit” case codes), there have been 17 copyright cases so far in 2011, compared with 28 in all of 2010; 43 patent cases so far in 2011, compared with 67 in 2010; and 41 trademark cases so far in 2011, compared with 65 in 2010.
The divisional breakdown of the 2011 cases in the Eastern District shows 55 in Alexandria, compared with 94 in 2010; 27 in Norfolk, compared with 41 in 2010; 17 in Richmond, compared with 22 in 2010; and 2 in Newport News, compared with 3 in 2010.
Over in the Western District, there have been 12 IP cases so far in 2011, compared to 17 in 2010. So far, copyright cases are already up by 1 (from 2 to 3), the patent total for 2010 (6) has been equaled, and trademark cases are lagging (3 so far in 2011, compared with 9 in 2010).
All statistics in this blog entry are taken from PACER’s Case Locator, available at https://pcl.uscourts.gov/search. At present, that tool allows breakdowns by court, division, nature of suit, and year of filing. One can only hope that the future brings an increased ability for the interested public to mine case statistics and data in PACER, including by case events (opinions, particular motion types, etc.).
