Patent litigation is one of the largest costs facing high-tech companies. Because of the high cost of patent litigation, the litigation can sometimes be thought of as a “bet-the-company” risk. In addition to the attorney fees and expenses, patent litigation takes an enormous amount of time of valuable employees for the companies involved. One of the best ways to lower the costs and risks of patent litigation is to employ mediation.
Cost of Patent Litigation
Chief Justice Warren E. Burger in 1984 characterized litigation to the American Bar Association as follows: “Our litigation system is too costly, too painful, too destructive, too inefficient for a civilized people.” That patent litigation is too expensive is more than borne out by the fact that it is rare for a patent infringement action to cost less than $1 million dollars for each party by the time it is ultimately resolved after trial.
