New patent lawsuit in the US were down by close to 1,000 filings in the first half of 2016 compared with the first six months of 2015, providing a further indication that the marked drop off in cases since December may be part of a longer-term trend.

According to Lex Machina’s running total, there were 2,238 cases brought in the first six months of this year compared with 3,232 in 2015 and 2,923 in 2014. That makes it the lowest first half total since 2011, the year that the America Invents Act was signed into law and its new joinder rules led to a spike in filings. Lex Machina has not officially announced their numbers for the first six months of 2016, but Lex Machina’s database keeps a running total and it’s safe to assume that the final total to the end of June will be close to 2,238. Unified Patents released its analysis earlier today which put the number of new cases at 2,187.

Compared with the first three months of this year when 958 new lawsuits were filed – by far the lowest quarterly total in five years – new case filings were up by just over 300 in the second quarter to 1,280. To what extent, therefore, the total for the first half represents a blip with the trend lines starting to go back up in Q2, will be one of the things to watch in the next three months.

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