Federal Civil Litigation for Small Businesses: A Patent Focused Field Guide

47 questions on federal civil litigation for small businesses, answered and cited by the UpLaw editorial team.

• Can a court avoid deciding a claim construction dispute?
• Can a patent owner still get an injunction after eBay?
• Can a Section 101 motion always be decided on the pleadings?
• Can failing to mark a product cap patent damages?
• Can patent damages reach foreign sales?
• Can patent disputes be resolved without litigation?
• How can a small company shift the financial risk of patent litigation?
• How does a plaintiff plead willful patent infringement?
• How does proportionality protect a small company in discovery?
• How does the Alice/Mayo eligibility test work?
• How is a reasonable royalty calculated?
• How is source code handled in patent discovery?
• How much detail must a patent complaint contain?
• Is collecting a patent judgment straightforward?
• Is inter partes review still worth pursuing?
• Is Section 101 law settled?
• What are a patent defendant's options once served?
• What are infringement and invalidity contentions?
• What are the statutory limits on inter partes review?
• What does patent litigation actually cost a small business?
• What does summary judgment attack in a patent case?
• What five questions should a founder answer before litigating a patent?
• What happens after a patent verdict?
• What is a claim chart and why build one before filing?
• What is apportionment and why is it the damages battlefield?
• What is discretionary denial at the PTAB and how did it change in 2025?
• What is distinctive about a patent trial?
• What is the all-elements rule in patent infringement?
• What is the file wrapper and why does it matter?
• What is the Phillips hierarchy of evidence for claim construction?
• What is the risk of sending a patent demand letter?
• What motions in limine matter most in a patent trial?
• What standards does the Federal Circuit apply on appeal?
• What strategic choices does the Markman phase present?
• When are enhanced damages available for willful infringement?
• When can a patentee recover lost profits instead of a royalty?
• When does a small business have the strongest patent case?
• When must a litigation hold issue in a patent dispute, and what must it cover?
• Where can a patent infringement suit be filed after TC Heartland?
• Where does the money go in a patent case?
• Which districts dominate patent filings, and how stable is that map?
• Why do challengers prefer inter partes review to district court?
• Why do declaratory judgment counterclaims matter so much in patent cases?
• Why does prior art matter before filing a patent suit?
• Why is claim construction called the trial within the trial?
• Why is the damages expert the biggest Daubert target in a patent case?
• Why must an IPR petition lead with the petitioner's best prior art?