By the Numbers – Most Litigious Companies

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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.

Industries with most litigation

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.

Business Litigation Lawyers in Orange County California