Patent trolls responsible for growing number of lawsuits, new data shows

So-called patent trolls are behind a large and increasing number of patent infringement lawsuits, according to a new study.

Lex Machina, a Palo Alto startup that studies legal data, released a study Wednesday evening that said 40 percent of a random sample of cases from 2011 were filed by patent trolls, which collect patents for the purpose of suing over them and do not use them to make their own products. They are also known as non-practicing entities, and the study calls them "patent monetization entities."

The number of lawsuits these entities are filing has increased dramatically: While they made up 40 percent of the cases in 2011, they were only 22 percent of the cases Lex Machina studied from 2007.

Lex Machina studied 500 lawsuits, including 100 from each year. The company was contracted to do the research by the U.S. General Accountability Office, which was directed to study the issue as part of the American Invents Act.

Among the five litigants who filed the most lawsuits, four were non-practicing entities: Jens Erik Sorensen, Arrivalstar, Acacia and Guardian Media Technologies.

Lex Machina also found that these cases are usually settled early. About 90 percent of the cases filed by a non-practicing entity were settled.

Many in Silicon Valley and elsewhere object to patent trolls' practices because they create billions in legal costs and are seen as stifling innovation. Patent trolls cost companies a total of $29 billion last year, according to a Boston University study.

These lawsuits also disproportionately target small businesses, as reported in the Business Journal last month.

More details about Lex Machina's study are available in an article titled "The America Invents Act 500: Effects of Patent Monetization Entities on U.S. Litigation" at the Social Science Research Network.