Here are PWC's observations for what happened in 2014 with a few comments:
- Patent lawsuits filed dropped 13%. Congress should consider this with respect to patent reform.
- Median damage awards second-lowest point in two decades. Is the median skewed by lack of mega damage awards in 2014?
- Juries decided 67% of the patent cases and median jury award were 31 times greater than median bench awards, which indicates patent owners should request jury trials 100% of the time.
- Differences exist in awards based on industry; from highest to lowest: biotech /pharma, telecommunications, and medical devices, and consumer products.
- Median time to trial grew to about 2.4 years.
- Top five districts favoring patents remain: ED Texas, Virginia Eastern, Delaware, Wisconsin Western, Florida Middle. Northern District of California has lots of cases filed, but is not as favorable to patent owners.
- Damages for non-practicing entities (NPEs) 4.5 times greater than for practicing entities. This is surprising given the media fed to the public (see juries) about "patent trolls."
- Federal Circuit modifies some ruling of the trial court in about 50% of the cases.
