Patent Litigation On Contingency Basis Disappearing

An article in IP Watchdog explains the numerical decline in contingency litigation law firms, attorneys and cases filed, and the overall impact on patent practice of its absence. According to Paul Storm, partner in Gardere’s Intellectual Property Practice, the decline can be explained by weakened patents making success on the merits less likely. Even if the patent owner does prevail, damages are likely to be minimal. “The net effect is that all patents are less valuable and weaker patents are much less likely to be asserted,” says Storm. “The overall reduction of contingency law firms and attorneys has led to a reduction in total cases, and to earlier, lower settlements.” Also, finding contingency representation is difficult because nearly every substantial patent litigation winds up having an inter partes review filed to challenge the patents involved. If the road to the courtroom runs through an IPR challenge, contingency representation is far less attractive.