Lex Machina 2026 Patent Litigation Report: District Court Filings Reach a Ten-Year High as PTAB Activity Slows Sharply
New analysis also finds broad-based growth beyond high-volume plaintiffs, record design patent filings, continued concentration in the Eastern District of Texas, and more than $2.3 billion in 2025 patent damages
San Jose, CA, Aug. 05, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- LexisNexis® Legal & Professional announced today the release of the Lex Machina® 2026 Patent Litigation Report, a comprehensive, data-driven analysis of trends shaping U.S. patent litigation in federal district and appellate courts and before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB). Powered by insights from Lex Machina®, the LexisNexis® Legal Analytics® platform, the report examines key developments from 2023 through 2025, places those findings in historical context dating back to 2016, and includes current observations from the first half of 2026. The analysis encompasses 38,893 patent cases filed in U.S. district courts and 3,589 federal circuit court cases docketed from 2016 through 2025, together with PTAB petitions and appeals.
Key findings from the report include:
- District court patent filings reach a ten-year high before pulling back in 2026: Plaintiffs filed 4,547 patent cases in 2025, a 19.6 percent increase over 2024 and the highest total in the 2016–2025 period. From January 1 through June 30, 2026, claimants filed approximately 1,900 new patent lawsuits, putting 2026 on pace to finish comfortably below the record level reached in 2025.
- Patent damages remain above $2 billion for a fourth consecutive year: Courts awarded $2.353 billion in patent damages across 63 cases in 2025, excluding fees and interest. From 2023 through 2025, reasonable royalty awards totaled $8.156 billion, with $8.066 billion awarded through verdicts, underscoring the continuing role of juries in the highest-value patent recoveries.
- PTAB activity enters a sharp slowdown: Inter partes review petitions fell approximately 8 percent to 1,208 in 2025, while post-grant review petitions increased to 75, their highest level since 2021. In the first half of 2026, parties filed only 201 PTAB petitions—fewer than in any other half-year period in at least a decade.
“Patent litigation strategy depends not only on understanding the law, but also on knowing how cases are actually progressing through the courts and PTAB,” said Michael J. Flynn, Partner at Morris, Nichols, Arsht & Tunnell LLP. “The Lex Machina Patent Litigation Report provides practical benchmarks on filings, venues, timing, outcomes, and damages that help us identify meaningful shifts and inform our clients’ litigation strategies.”
“The 2026 Patent Litigation Report captures a litigation landscape in transition,” said Eric Wright, senior vice president for Lex Machina at LexisNexis. “District court filings reached a ten-year high in 2025, with growth extending well beyond high-volume plaintiffs, while the first half of 2026 brought a pronounced slowdown—especially at the PTAB. In an environment this dynamic, legal teams need clear benchmarks on venue, timing, parties, counsel, outcomes, and damages. Lex Machina gives practitioners the data-backed intelligence to assess risk earlier, allocate resources more effectively, and make more confident litigation and business-development decisions.”
To request a copy of the report, visit LexisNexis.com/LexMachina.
The Lex Machina platform equips litigation professionals to develop stronger case strategies and generate business. From precise timing metrics that inform legal budgeting to trend data on top law firms and leading judges, Lex Machina supplements traditional legal research and experience with customized, data-backed insights. These insights help lawyers identify and pursue new matters, navigate motion and trial strategies, and negotiate smarter settlements, ultimately giving firms a competitive edge in litigation.
About LexisNexis® Legal & Professional
LexisNexis® Legal & Professional provides AI-powered legal, regulatory, business information, analytics and workflows that help customers increase their productivity, improve decision-making, achieve better outcomes, and advance the rule of law around the world. As a digital pioneer, the company was the first to bring legal and business information online with its Lexis® and Nexis® services. LexisNexis Legal & Professional, which serves customers in more than 150 countries with 11,900 employees worldwide, is part of RELX, a global provider of information-based analytics and decision tools for professional and business customers.
About Lex Machina
Lex Machina® fundamentally changes how companies and law firms compete in the business and practice of law. The company provides strategic insights on judges, lawyers, law firms, parties, and other critical information across 22 federal practice areas and a rapidly growing number of state courts. Lex Machina allows law firms and companies to anticipate the behaviors and outcomes that different legal strategies will produce, supporting more effective case strategy and business development efforts.
Lex Machina was named Winner of the “Overall LegalTech Data Solution Provider of the Year” LegalTech Breakthrough Award 2025, “Best Data Analytics & Insight Solution” 2025 CODiE Award, and Winner of the “Media Excellence Award” for Analytics/Big Data 2024. Based in Silicon Valley, Lex Machina is part of LexisNexis®, a leading global provider of legal, regulatory, and business information and analytics. For more information, please visit https://www.lexisnexis.com/en-us/products/lex-machina.page.
Michael J. Flynn is a customer of Lex Machina.
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