The first half of 2019 is in the books and Unified Patents has already crunched the numbers on patent litigation (you can view the full report here). Two notable findings: Suits by nonpracticing entities (NPEs) are on the comeback in district courts, while Patent Trial and Appeal Board filings are substantially down for the first time in years.

Some 660 administrative challenges to patent validity were filed at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s PTAB in the first half of the year. That puts petitions on pace for 1,320 this year, which would be a 24% drop from the 1,748 average for the last five years. (Filings had been remarkably steady up till now, numbering 1,702, 1,793, 1,732, 1,796 and 1,717 over the previous five years.)