IP Litigation
Approximately 70% of patent infringement lawsuits are settled after one year in litigation, with an average of one million dollars in litigation costs. Of all filed patent infringement cases, only about 4% ultimately reach trial. The rest are either settled or disposed of on summary judgment.
Against this backdrop, ATL offers a resourceful approach to intellectual property and business litigation which focuses on early stage resolution, when possible.
ATL is adept at communicating complex technologies and issues to judges and jurors, and in accurately conveying likely outcomes to clients.
ATL has handled patent disputes involving a wide range of technologies, including computer software and hardware, networks, security, mobile technologies, payment systems, semiconductors, life sciences, biotechnology, nanotechnology, social networking, internet technologies, and consumer products. We have extensive experience in contested proceedings before the USPTO.
ATL has also assisted and counseled clients in challenging patent validity, including inter partes review, post-grant review and review of covered business method patents.
Negotiation solution and patent litigation outcomes can take many forms, including the following:
- Injunctive Relief: An injunction is a court order requiring the patent infringer to cease production and/or sale of the infringing product or service that uses the patent. While this puts a halt to the illegal use of the patent, it provides no compensation to the patent owner.
- Exclusion Order: Another patent litigation approach, if the patent infringer is a foreign entity, an effective strategy is to file a complaint with the International Trade Commission (ITC), to obtain an exclusion order. This will prohibit the patent infringer from importing products that use the infringed patent into the United States. As with the case of an injunction, the exclusion order does not compensate the patent owner for damages.
- Monetary Damages: In a successful litigation outcome, a patent owner is entitled to recover damages from the infringer which may be calculated in a variety of forms, including lost profits and royalties.
- Negotiated license: In may disputes ATL has been able to economically negotiate a license, allowing a patent owner to avoid a costly trial and negotiate a settlement involving a licensing arrangement under which the patent owner is paid a royalty for use of the patent.
- Mediation: Many contracts involving infringement require the parties to consent to the use of a mediator. This process often leads to a settlement of the patent litigation, and avoids a trial and subsequent appeals of the verdict by the defendant. ATL has obtained successful mediation outcomes in patent trademark and copyright cases both prior to and during the mediation process.