What is a Patent Accusation?
A Patent Accusation is a more granular way to measure the volume of litigation activity than counting the number of cases or litigants. As used in this report, the term means a request for relief in a U.S. district court, the ITC or the PTAB (AIA proceedings), the resolution of which could determine if a patent has been infringed or the patent’s validity or enforceability.
For example, a civil case with one plaintiff asserting one patent against one defendant would involve one patent accusation, whereas a case with one plaintiff asserting 5 patents against 10 defendants would result in 50 infringement accusation. Multiple claims involving the same parties and patents (e.g., a claim of infringement and a declaratory judgment counterclaim of invalidity or unenforceability) are counted as a single accusation. In a PTAB proceeding, each challenge to the patentability of a patent would create one patent accusation.
