What is Patent Litigation Funding?

Patent litigation funding involves a third-party financing some or all of the legal expenses of one or more patent disputes in exchange for a share of the proceeds recovered from the resolution of the dispute(s).

Patent litigation is inherently expensive and comes with substantial risk, leading many litigants and law firms to seek patent litigation funding. Some patent owners simply cannot afford to pay the legal fees required to retain competent counsel, and many firms that offer contingent-fee arrangements may still require that the litigant pay prohibitively expensive legal costs. Increasingly, well-resourced litigants are spending their capital on improving their business rather than paying large bills to outside counsel. And law firms often look to de-risk their contingent portfolios of patent disputes by obtaining discounted fees and costs through a funding partner. In each of these situations, a well-resourced litigation funder’s services make good sense when litigating against a well-resourced defendant.

Woodsford is a founder member of both the International Legal Finance Association and the Association of Litigation Funders.