Patent Trolls File 92 Lawsuits Against Apple in Three Years

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We pointed out last year, based on available data, that Apple is the No.1 target of patent trolls. In a recent filing, the iPhone maker itself pointed to the long list of patent litigations that has kept the company’s lawyers busy during the past three years.

“No firm has been targeted by PAEs more than Apple,” wrote Apple in public comments filed with the Federal Trade Commission. “Apple has litigated against PAEs 92 times in the past three years alone and has received many more demands.”

Ars Technica points to Apple’s filings at the Federal Trade Commission and in the Supreme Court, which offer details of the company’s patent battles. The stats are courtesy of an Apple-commissioned study conducted by PatentFreedom, a defense-oriented patent consultancy: the iPhone maker has faced 92 patent litigations during the past three years, 57 of which are closed, and in 51 of which Apple has agreed to pay the troll.

One of the main trolls is Lodsys, which has gained “popularity” in the tech world thanks to its moves against developers who implement in-app purchases in their apps.

Another “troll” appears to be Samsung. It is known that Apple and Samsung have an ongoing patent litigation on four continents, but what isn’t so well known is that the South Korean manufacturer filed 38 lawsuits against Apple just last year, the PatentFreedom stats reveal.

But as it turns out, Apple isn’t the most sought-after target; that honor goes to Google with 192 troll lawsuits in the past five years. Apple is right behind, though, with 191 lawsuits.

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