There were three billion-dollar-plus verdicts in patent cases in 2012, compared to only one patent-case verdict of more than a billion dollars in each of three prior years.

In a move that’s out of sync with a recent spate of decisions making class actions more difficult to pursue, the U.S. Supreme Court last week held that shareholders may pursue securities class actions without first having to prove the defendant company’s actions actually affected the company’s share price, according to a Bloomberg article.

A jury in New Jersey Superior Court recently awarded $11.1 million to Linda Gross, a woman who suffered debilitating injuries from a vaginal mesh implant manufactured by Johnson & Johnson’s Ethicon unit.