The IPO’s May 18 patent filing survey, based on responses from 85 companies between April 14 and April 23, indicate that a sizable minority, or 29 percent of responding companies, expect to file more U.S. patent applications this year than in 2008. Thirty percent anticipate a steady rate of filing.
Companies’ intellectual property strategy during these lean economic times runs the gamut from cutting U.S. patent filings to boosting applications as a strategic move, but many companies are aggressively trimming foreign patent application filings, said Rick Anderson, a Minneapolis lawyer who chairs Fish & Richardson’s patent group.
