Many patents end up at the center of court cases, and these cases can have far-reaching ramifications for the companies involved, or invalidate a patent. Unfortunately, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, USPTO, does not keep track of patent litigation. Many of the databases are available to paying members only, but there are some options.
Instructions
Free Databases
1. If you are researching a patent in a specific case, find the case number.
2. Put the case number into the U.S. Courts' Public Access to Court Electronic Records database, PACER, and you will most likely be rewarded with more information in legalese than you ever wanted.
3. Search PatentFizz. PatentFizz is a free database that, unlike the USPTO database, occasionally includes information on litigation involving a given patent. You can search by keywords, patent number or inventor on PatentFizz.
Member-only Databases
4. Go to your local public library or university and see if they offer access to member-only databases, especially Lexis Nexis.
5. Search for news articles and documents relating to patent litigation in Lexis Nexis, keywords and company names are the best ways to conduct this search. Lexis Nexis features more than five billion documents, but users must pay to use the system.
6. Search for patent-related litigation through a database like Docket Navigator or Innography that specializes in intellectual property rights.
