Ex Parte Reexam Requests Remain Near Their Peak Amid Ongoing NHK-Fintiv Uncertainty
April 24, 2024
The Patent Trial and Appeal Board’s (PTAB’s) practice of discretionarily denying inter partes review (IPR) petitions due to the status of parallel litigation, known as the NHK-Fintiv rule, has long been a source of uncertainty for paten...
Read full postDelaware Trailed in Q1 NPE Rankings as Judge Connolly Signaled Stronger Transparency Rules
April 17, 2024
The Eastern District of Texas was the top district for overall patent litigation (i.e., for all plaintiff types) and NPE litigation in Q1 2024, a rank it has held since Q2 of last year. In second place, with roughly half as much overall lit...
Read full postNPE Litigation Swung Upward by 24% in Q1 2024
April 10, 2024
NPEs added 420 defendants to patent litigation campaigns in Q1 2024, up by 24% from the same quarter last year (when NPEs added 339 defendants). First-quarter NPE filings fell by 13% compared to the trailing Q1 average for 2021-2023 and wer...
Read full postLitigation Targeting Counterfeit Products Spiked in Q4
March 27, 2024
RPX’s latest quarterly report shows that operating company plaintiffs added 1,161 defendants to patent litigation campaigns in 2023, an increase of 14.5% from the year before. Operating companies also added 283 defendants in Q4, a 19% ups...
Read full postPTAB Institution Rate Inches Up as USPTO Mulls NHK-Fintiv Changes, Revamps Director Review
March 13, 2024
The institution rate for America Invents Act (AIA) review petitions was 69% in 2023, climbing slightly from 68% the year before. However, the institution rate was 66% in the fourth quarter, falling from 69% in Q4 2022. ...
Read full postMonetization Firms and Inventor-Managed NPEs Hit E-Commerce and Software in Q4
March 6, 2024
The top market sector for NPE litigation in Q4 2023 was E-Commerce and Software, accounting for 35% of new defendants added to patent litigation campaigns. Networking saw the second highest amount of NPE litigation in the fourth quarter, fo...
Read full postAIA Review Filings Dip in 2023 as Stakeholders Debate PTAB Reform Proposal
February 21, 2024
The Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) saw 1,188 petitions for America Invents Act (AIA) review in 2023, including 1,154 petitions for inter partes review (IPR) and 34 petitions for post-grant review (PGR). Filings were 12.5% lower than i...
Read full postJudge Albright, Still in Second Place for 2023, Faces Further Appellate Scrutiny
February 14, 2024
Eastern District of Texas Chief Judge Rodney Gilstrap was the nation’s top district judge in 2023, with 12% of all new patent litigation falling in his courtroom. Western District of Texas Judge Alan D. Albright followed in a distant seco...
Read full postAs IP Edge’s Litigation Pause Persists, Its Downward Pull on NPE Numbers Has Lessened
February 7, 2024
In the fourth quarter of 2023, NPEs added 442 defendants to patent litigation campaigns, or 17% less than Q4 2022—falling 28% short of the trailing three-quarter Q4 average, but exceeding Q3 2023 by 15%. This dropoff was less pronounced t...
Read full postEx Parte Reexam Filings Swung Back Upward in 2023
January 24, 2024
One of the most controversial practices followed by the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) is the NHK-Fintiv rule, which allows the discretionary denial of America Invents Act (AIA) petitions due to the status of parallel proceedings. Som...
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