1. Apple is the number one patent troll victim with 171 patent troll lawsuits from 2009 to 2013.
2. The number of patent suits filed by Patent Assertion Entities (Patent Trolls) has tripled in the last two years.
3. Small and medium businesses represented 90% of the defendants sued.
4. Patent litigation is very expensive; the average suit in which $1 million to $25 million is at stake costs $1.6 million through discovery and $2.8 million through trial.
5. In 2013, three cases, tried before juries in separate districts, resulted in awards of $1 billion or greater. SOURCE
6. Patent trolls have targeted the software industry with 41 percent of the patent litigation involving software patents. SOURCE
7. Patent Trolls typically sue multiple defendants since this reduces their legal costs per defendant and makes for a large potential payoff. SOURCE
8. Since 97 percent of infringement suits are settled before trial that suggests that, given the trolls’ advantages, target companies would rather pay off trolls than fight them in court. SOURCE
9. The Patent Office receives 520,000 applications in a year — that’s about 1,425 every day — and its 6,500 inspectors are hard-pressed to investigate each application thoroughly. They sometimes end up issuing patents that should not have been awarded. The sheer number and poor quality of patents make it harder for technology companies to be sure they aren’t infringing on an existing or pending patent. SOURCE
10. In 2011, United States business entities incurred $29 billion in direct costs because of patent trolls. SOURCE

For more information on Patent Trolling and how to combat them you should attend our event Patent Trolls and Other IP-Related Threats: How to Protect Your Business from a New Kind of Predator. REGISTER NOW!!!!