THE FOOTPRINT OF 
PATENT HISTORY

1990s

Significant growth in patent licensing activity and numerous high damages awards are the hallmark of the 1990s. The Eastern and Western Districts of Texas emerged as favorable venues for those bringing patent suits. It is in these jurisdictions that speed and jurisdictional fairness are more likely to take place. In the 90s Silicon Valley grew as incubator to many tech companies and innovation in hardware, software and ecommerce grew. 

Google was founded while Sergey Brin and Larry Page were students at Stanford. (Stanford's partial ownership of the Google patent issued in 1998 and business resulted in a $300+ million windfall for the university. China counterfeit goods and patent and trade secret theft continues to climb.