How long does a patent lawsuit take?
Patent litigation — patent infringement suits in U.S. federal court — take a median of 212 days from filing to resolution, based on 46,705 real cases in the public federal court record. Most resolve between 105 days and 2.8 years — here's the full picture.
Filing to termination · 46,705 cases · median 212 days
How patent lawsuit cases end
Of 43,613 resolved cases — the observed record, not a prediction of any one case.
Patent litigation duration by court
Median time to resolution in the districts with the most patent lawsuit cases.
| District | Cases | Median | Slowest 10% |
|---|---|---|---|
| E.D. Tex. | 11,542 | 211d | 2.1 yr |
| W.D. Tex. | 4,628 | 228d | 2.8 yr |
| C.D. Cal. | 2,779 | 194d | 2.0 yr |
| N.D. Ill. | 2,512 | 145d | 1.8 yr |
| D.N.J. | 2,139 | 258d | 3.0 yr |
| N.D. Cal. | 1,636 | 215d | 3.3 yr |
| S.D.N.Y. | 1,238 | 149d | 2.2 yr |
| S.D. Fla. | 920 | 122d | 1.4 yr |
| N.D. Tex. | 876 | 153d | 1.7 yr |
| M.D. Fla. | 625 | 188d | 1.8 yr |
| E.D. Va. | 599 | 314d | 10.1 yr |
| S.D. Cal. | 594 | 234d | 2.5 yr |
| D. Mass. | 592 | 239d | 3.2 yr |
| S.D. Tex. | 578 | 204d | 3.0 yr |
| N.D. Ga. | 488 | 184d | 2.7 yr |
Have a specific patent lawsuit?
These are averages across every patent lawsuit. For a forecast tuned to your case — your court, your amount, your posture — get a free estimate, or the full report built from your complaint.
Other case types
Source: data/fjc/civil.parquet (Federal Judicial Center), cleaned by Tertius · model tertius-acta-3. Durations are filing to termination for U.S. federal civil cases. This is observed historical data, not a prediction of any specific case, and not legal advice. Tertius forecasts timing and disposition, never merits or damages.