Snapshot of Trademark and Copyright Suits Filed and Closed in the Eastern District of Virginia

Ever wonder about the five-year trend for the number of trademark and copyright actions filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia (the “Rocket Docket”), and what the numbers may say about the state of trademark and copyright litigation.  Mod Law did. 

Here are the annual numbers for trademark or copyright infringement actions filed in the Eastern District of Virginia during the period January 1 through June 8 and the percentage of those same cases that were closed by June 8 of the same year:

YEAR	Cases Filed by 6/8	Same Cases Closed by 6/8 (%)
2006	54	30
2007	53	21
2008	32	28
2009	53	15
2010	38	16

On average, the numbers show that 2010 was fairly low in terms of the number of cases filed.  Not a big surprise.  The numbers also show that, of those cases filed by June 8, significantly less cases were closed by June 8, 2010.  Hmm.  One reasonable interpretation of the data may be that trademark and copyright owners are choosing their battles more carefully.  Another, non-exclusive interpretation may be that legal battles involving trademark and copyright issues are more important to both plaintiffs and defendants, and thus both sides are less willing to lose or settle.  Perhaps less is more during the first half of 2010.