2016 best year ever for patent owners in IPRs: report
A study conducted by law firm Fitzpatrick, Cella, Harper & Scinto has shown that patent owners are “winning more cases than ever” before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB).
The study found that in every quarter of 2016, the reviewed final written decisions resulted in more than half the claims originally challenged in the IPR proceedings surviving.
By contrast, in the previous two years, the survival rate of such claims exceeded 50% only once. In the first quarter of 2014, less than 20% of such claims survived challenge.
The study also showed that the number of claims at issue in cases decided by the PTAB last year—12,732—is almost equivalent to the number of claims the board had adjudicated in all previous years combined.
“While PTAB judges were busier than ever last year on a claim-by-claim basis, that increase in activity hasn’t created any negative trends for patent owners,” stated Justin Oliver, partner at Fitzpatrick.
“In fact, this year’s report shows just the opposite. It’s evident that 2016 was the best year ever for patent holders in IPRs.”
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