Who wins patent infringement cases?

You can find the answer to that question in the latest issue of the AIPLA Quarterly Journal (34 AIPLA Q. J. 1 (2006)). UHLC Prof Paul M. Janicke and 2005 alum LiLan Ren reviewed the decisions of the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals over a 3 year period (2002-04) to identify the most significant factors affecting the outcome of patent infringement cases. Is there really a home court advantage? Was the patent owner or infringer more likely to prevail or was it more important who their lawyers were? If it depends on the lawyer (or his/her firm), how much of a difference does his/her practice experience make? Did patent lawyers fare better or worse than general practitioners on appeal? Did it make a difference which judge wrote the final opinion?

This is a VERY interesting article with some surprising statistics (to me, anyway). You'll have to get a copy if you want to read it for yourself, but if you're curious about the referenced case database, Prof Janicke made it available here.