Overview: Group Settlement

Patendex offers a unique service: Facilitation of joint resolution of patent lawsuits on behalf of multiple defendants.

Typically an NPE patent infringement lawsuit has multiple defendants. Frequently, several of these defendants will cooperate on patent invalidity analysis. However, typically, defendants often find it difficult to cooperate more generally or closely, such as by sharing the cost of attorneys, because:

• They do not want to share confidential information
• They find it difficult to allocate the costs of a joint settlement equitably between cooperating companies
• Their legal counsel may fear conflicts of interest.

Patendex provides a structure to create a group of defendants and assists its members in negotiating a joint settlement:

• Once a defendant member decides to try to settle a lawsuit, Patendex facilitates and encourages other members to join the effort, to create the power of group action
• Patendex will follow settlement strategy of members who choose to join the defense group
• If a group member shares confidential information with Patendex, that information can be protected from disclosure to other group members.
• Patendex allocates settlement cost to group members according to a pre-agreed, equitable formula, making the implication of any NPE settlement offer immediately apparent to each group member
• There is no obligation for any company to accept a settlement offered to a Patendex defense group.

Apart from a modest annual membership fee, Patendex is only compensated on a success-fee basis.