Intellectual property

Norton Rose Fulbright’s 2025 Annual Litigation Trends Survey indicates that a quarter of respondents say their intellectual property (IP) dispute exposure grew over the last year, with approximately the same share (26%) expecting to be more exposed in 2025.

Patents once again appear to be fueling this trend, with nearly half (46%) of those who saw their IP exposure grow last year reporting greater vulnerability to patent disputes over the past 12 months. Trade secrets trailed close behind at 44% as organizations hunt for ways to protect proprietary information in the potential absence of noncompete agreements.

The majority of respondents expecting to see their IP exposure grow in 2025 say they are somewhat (33%) or very likely (55%) to engage in IP enforcement litigation over the next 12 months.

More than half of this group say they would be more likely to move forward with an enforcement lawsuit to protect their IP rights (68%), maintain brand integrity (55%) and retain a competitive advantage (51%). Significant segments also point to monetizing their IP rights (48%) and deterring future infringement (45%) as other factors that would push them toward litigation.

This comes as AI tools unleash a wave of IP concerns and spur critical questions about the nature of ownership, with plaintiffs filing dozens of lawsuits last year alleging copyright infringement in AI training data. In fact, more than half (55%) of respondents expecting their IP exposure to grow over the next year say the increased use of AI technology will be a contributing factor – a greater share than any other issue for the second year in a row. 

In addition to concerns with user data being used without authorization to train a machine learning algorithm, AI can also jeopardize IP rights when users intentionally input sensitive data or proprietary information into these tools. Though not exclusive to AI, use of third-party software or components (such as free AI tools) is also a major factor driving dispute exposure, selected by almost half (47%) of respondents who anticipate an increase in IP exposure in the year ahead.

Download the 2025 Annual Litigation Trends Survey report for more details.