NPE Litigation Rose Substantially in 2024 and Q4
NPE patent litigation increased significantly in 2024. This past year, NPEs added 1,889 defendants to patent litigation campaigns, an increase of 21.6% compared to 2023 (when such plaintiffs added 1,553 defendants).
The story was similar in the fourth quarter, when NPEs added 493 defendants, or 19% more than Q4 2023—falling 1% short of the trailing three-quarter Q4 average for 2021-2023, but exceeding Q3 2024 by 3%.
| Defendants Added | Change Compared to: | ||||
| Q4 2024 | Q4 2023 | Q4 2021-2023 Average | Q3 2024 | ||
| NPE | 493 | 19% | -1% | 3% | |
| Operating Company | 352 | 38% | 38% | 25% | |
| Total | 845 | 26% | 13% | 11% | |
Overall, patent plaintiffs added 845 defendants in the fourth quarter of 2024, or 26% more than in Q4 2023 and 11% more than Q3 2024, also beating the trailing average by 13%. Plaintiffs added 3,063 defendants to campaigns in 2024 as a whole, or 19.7% more than the year before (at 2,558 defendants added).
See RPX’s fourth-quarter review for more on district court filings in Q4 and 2024, as well as other key trends that shaped patent litigation last year.
