It’s easy to assume that today’s patent wars are a new phenomenon. With billions of dollars spent on litigation – a figure that, in many cases, exceeds the amount used in research and development – the scale and intensity of today’s patent litigation can seem unique in history. Despite this assumed uniqueness, today’s patent wars are not only very similar to those that occurred during previous centuries, but in some cases actually smaller in scale than their forerunners. Today’s patent-related lawsuits are both less common and less costly than those that have occurred throughout the 19th and 20th centuries. (more…)