Legal fights for patent rights: Are the judicial concerns of small companies justified?

Abstract

Patents and patenting have been extensively studied in recent years. Large firms are considered more advanced in their management of technology and prosecution of patents, while small firms possess a limited capacity to operate the legal quality of patents. This article deals with concerns expressed by small companies about the legal uncertainties of patents and patenting. We present results from our interviews and subsequently focus on studying patent litigations, in Finland. We present the types of parties, court actions, and industries with high litigation activity. Speed and cost of litigation is compared with selected other countries. Data are retrieved from multiple sources, including the Darts- IP database with a global coverage of IPR related litigation cases. We find that an opposition action is the most frequent type of litigation, followed by infringement and invalidity actions. Combinations of infringement and invalidation actions are not as common in Finland, as seen in other countries. Most litigations are fought by and between large companies. Recommendations are given for technology management in small companies.