The litigation industry has seen some key developments related to trademark, copyright and patent infringement over the past year or so which has led to the development of interesting trends for law firms to look into. The ever changing market dynamics has seen a rise and fall in various cases specific to different industries for legal advisors to look into as a possible source of business in the future as well as for business owners alike to be wary of such trends. Lex Machina, a research company which provides legal analytics to law firms and companies, discusses these trends in detail. Let’s take a look at some of the findings.
Top Cases Filed by Companies (January 2009-March 2016)
| Name of Company | Cases |
| Coach Services, Inc. | 730 |
| Coach, Inc. | 676 |
| Chanel, Inc. | 330 |
| Microsoft Corporation | 203 |
| American Automobile Association, Inc. | 195 |
| Boost Worldwide, Inc. | 164 |
| Deckers Outdoor Corporation | 164 |
| Slep-Tone Entertainment Corporation | 162 |
| Luscious Limo Service, Inc. | 109 |
| Best Western International, Inc. | 104 |
| Chevron Intellectual Property LLC | 100 |
| Moroccanoil, Inc. | 98 |
| Disney Enterprises, Inc. | 96 |
| Bravado International Group Merchandising Se.. | 81 |
| Chevron U.S.A. Inc. | 81 |
Fashion brands lead the way when it comes to the most number of cases registered by companies from January 2009-March 2016. Coach, an American company manufacturing luxury accessories for men and women leads the way with 730 cases recorded, followed by the French company Chanel with 330 cases and Microsoft with 203 cases making up the top 3 positions on the list. Other notable names of the list include the American Automobile Association (4th place), Chevron (10th place) and Disney (12th place).
The main reason for this trend is due to a variety of replicas of famous fashion brands being sold in global markets with the original seller’s name. The original companies often seek damages against such sellers which cause harm to the sales as well as image of the brand in the market. As a result, Chanel claimed the most amount in damages ($1 billion) ahead of Burberry ($523 million) and Gucci ($208 million) as the top 3 fashion brands to have claimed most damages from their cases.
Top Cases Filed by Companies (January 2015-March 2016)
| Name of Company | Cases |
| Stream, Inc. | 56 |
| Phoenix Entertainment Partners, L.L.C | 54 |
| Chanel, Inc. | 47 |
| Luxottica Group S.p.A. | 38 |
| Deckers Outdoor Corporation | 34 |
| American Automobile Association, Inc. | 27 |
| Oakley, Inc. | 27 |
| Sprint Solutions, Inc. | 25 |
| Sprint Communications Company L.P. | 23 |
| Luscious Limo Service, Inc. | 21 |
| Microsoft Corporation Coach Services, Inc. | 21 |
| Coach, Inc. | 20 |
| Adidas AG | 20 |
| Adidas America, Inc. | 18 |
Looking at the data related to the cases filed by companies in the year 2015, a different trend can be seen to emerge with tech and entertainment companies leading the charge. In the last 5 quarters, Stream Inc. and Phoenix Entertainment Partners (with 56 cases and 54 cases respectively) filled more plaintiffs than either Chanel (47) or Coach (20) during this time signifying a shifting trend from cases registered by fashion brands to companies operating in other industries. Other notable names on the list include Microsoft (11th place) and Adidas (13th place).
Cases Filed By District
| District | Cases |
| Central District of California | 4164 |
| Southern District of New York | 2142 |
| Southern District of Florida | 1659 |
The Central District of California saw the most cases registered in the period of January 2009-March 2016 with 4164 cases being registered compared to 2142 cases and 1659 cases registered in the southern district of New York and Florida respectively. Most cases related to false advertising had been registered in the Central District of California resulting in many California business lawyers having their hands full.