Ars Technica reported last year that in 2015 over two thirds of patent lawsuits were filed by trolls and that of all patent lawsuits, 44% were filed in the Eastern District of Texas (where few others than trolls would be filing suits). The report says that although the numbers are up, the trolls' business might be down.
The total number of cases seems to line up between the two reports (5700 in 2015, not including PTAB).
But only 2281 cases involving NPEs were decided between 1996 and 2015[1]. If 66% are filed by NPEs, then this should be much more. Unless the vast majority are dropped I guess?
Yes. Cases issued will not correspond to cases decided, since many cases settle. And there is a long time-lag from starting a case to ending it with a judgment.
Ars: https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2016/01/despite-law-chan...
Original statistic: https://www.unifiedpatents.com/news/2016/5/30/2015-patent-di...