Report: Patterns in Media Coverage of Patent Disputes

The four patent cases covered most extensively during 2016 involved either Apple or Samsung, a clear indication that most media coverage of patent infringement cases was focused on the mobile smartphone sector. To be more specific, the news coverage of patent infringement stories during 2016 was dominated by Samsung Electronics Co. v. Apple, the $399 million design patent case between Apple and Samsung in front of the U.S. Supreme Court, which was the main focus of 15.74 percent of all articles surveyed. No other patent case before the Supreme Court was the focus of at least five articles in the survey. Overall, Apple and Samsung dominated patent infringement news coverage. Apple was a focus of 37% of articles surveyed, and Samsung was a focus of 27 stories, or 22.83% of articles surveyed. General news publications typically provided more balanced coverage of both sides of a patent infringement case. 100% of the articles from The Wall Street Journal sought comment from both sides of a case (plaintiff and defendant), whether those parties declined to participate or not. At least 50% of the articles from Reuters, The New York Times and CNET also showed evidence that writers attempted to contact both sides in a case. The survey found an equal number of articles presenting either the plaintiff or the defendant, not both. Patent infringement coverage at some publications is either written primarily