Federal Circuit often affirms PTAB decisions: Finnegan data

The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit typically backs decisions from the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) in appeals, according to data from US law firm Finnegan.

As of December 15, 2017, the Federal Circuit had decided 289 PTAB appeals from inter partes reviews (IPRs) and covered business method (CBM) cases.

The PTAB was affirmed on every issue in 216 (74.74%) of the cases. The Federal Circuit reversed or vacated the PTAB on every issue in 32 (11.07%) of the cases and 29, or 10.03% of the cases, received a mix outcome where at least one issue was affirmed and at least one was vacated or reversed.

Meanwhile, 12 (4.15%) of the appeals were dismissed without the court rendering a decision on the merits.

Dismissals may take place when the Federal Circuit does not have jurisdiction to hear an appeal, when settlements among the parties to the appeal are agreed, and when the court rules that a previous decision renders an appeal moot, according to Finnegan.

When it comes to IPRs, the PTAB was affirmed on every issue in 195 of the cases, the Federal Circuit reversed or vacated the PTAB on every issue in 30 cases, and the court issued a mixed outcome in 27 of the cases. Nine of them were dismissed.

Meanwhile, the Federal Circuit affirmed the PTAB on every issue in 21 of the CBM cases, issued a mixed review in two of the cases, reversed or vacated the PTAB on every issue in two cases, and dismissed three of them.

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