The past decade was a tumultuous time for patent practitioners. Congressional inaction on several patent reform bills amid escalating patent verdicts and a spike in patent filings pushed the courts and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) to shift the rules.
The growth of several high-tech industries in recent years spurred a 59% climb in patent application filings from 311,807 in fiscal year 2000 to 496,886 in 2008 before dipping slightly in 2009. Lucrative patent litigation also boomed, and general practice firms beefed up their IP practices to capture more of the work.
