PwC study also states that from 1995 through 2007, patent holders were successful 37 percent of the time overall in staking their claims. In the same timeframe, 32 percent of summary judgments were appealed, and 59 percent of those judgments modified or reversed.
Those are tough stats, but even so, there's no slowdown in patent litigation. Despite the costs, despite the risks, and despite legislation being considered to slow down the rate of patent cases, companies are going to court as never before. Indeed, the PwC study indicates that fears of recession are exacerbating the trend: "Although the risks in patent litigation have increased, the damages awards remain significant," state the authors. Winning a patent case can be lucrative; it can also slow down your competition.
That's where you come in. If you read the fine print in your favorite publicly traded supplier's financial reports, you'll see litigation listed as a risk. And while most firms also state that legal fees are not material to earnings, it doesn't take much activity to overwhelm newly public firms. And when the stakes are high, you can bank on high fees and a supply chain effect.
"Most likely, the price would be built in to the cost of doing business, which could impact shareholders," says Greg Schulz of the StorageIO Group.
In this light, it's worth questioning the potential impact of big lawsuits on Sun, NetApp, and others whose revenues are a mixed bag.
To realize the benefits of cloud-native software, an application must actually be cloud-native—designed to run in the cloud, interacting with disaggregated cloud services, fully manageable as code—to deliver the expected benefits.
By combining resources and expertise, the AI-Enabled ICT Workforce Consortium will offer a blueprint for how industries can adapt to an AI-dominated future.
IT leaders should heed the guidance of cybersecurity insurance providers who think businesses should prioritize security education, incident preparedness, regular internal audits, and ongoing vulnerability scanning and patching.
