PTAB Petitions Dipped in 1H 2022 as Vidal Began Addressing Stakeholder Criticisms
September 7, 2022
In the first half of 2022, 688 petitions for America Invents Act (AIA) review were filed with the PTAB, including 669 petitions for inter partes review (IPR) and 19 petitions for post-grant review (PGR). Filings in the year’s first half w...
Read full postParties Agreeing to Limit District Court-PTAB Overlap Increasingly Likely to Avoid NHK-Fintiv Denials
August 31, 2022
USPTO Director Kathi Vidal recently released a guidance clarifying the metes and bounds of the NHK-Fintiv rule, which governs the Patent Trial and Appeal Board’s (PTAB’s) use of discretionary denials in America Invents Act (AIA) reviews...
Read full postDefendants Still Filing More Reexam Requests Despite Dip in NHK-Fintiv Denials
August 24, 2022
A recent USPTO study reveals both a drop in discretionary denials based on the NHK-Fintiv rule and a rise in stipulations that allow defendants to avoid some aspects of NHK-Fintiv. That analysis nevertheless also indicates that, despite thi...
Read full postE-Commerce and Software Saw the Most NPE Litigation in Q2
August 17, 2022
The top market sector for NPE litigation in Q2 2022 was E-Commerce and Software, accounting for 28% of new defendants added to patent litigation campaigns. Consumer Electronics and PCs saw the second highest amount of NPE litigation in the ...
Read full postNHK-Fintiv Denials Are Infrequent for West Texas Parallel Litigation, According to USPTO Analysis
August 10, 2022
As part of an ongoing Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) reform push from USPTO Director Kathi Vidal, the USPTO recently released a study on discretionary denials in America Invents Act (AIA) reviews based on the status of parallel litiga...
Read full postNPE Activity Catches Up to 1H 2021 Due to Q2 Boost
August 3, 2022
For the first half of 2022, NPE activity was slightly ahead of that same period last year by 2%, with 1,203 defendants added to patent litigation campaigns—broadly in line with the trend seen since 2018. While Q1 2022 saw 10% less litigat...
Read full postWest Texas Stays on Top as Senate Confirms Delaware Nominee for Judge Stark’s Seat
July 27, 2022
In Q1 2022, the Western District of Texas was yet again the most popular district for all patent litigation and for litigation filed by NPEs. The District of Delaware was the top district for operating company litigation and held second pla...
Read full postNHK-Fintiv Denials Have Declined Dramatically, Says USPTO Study
July 20, 2022
USPTO Director Kathi Vidal recently kicked off a push to reform the Patent Trial and Appeal Board’s (PTAB’s) use of discretionary denials based on parallel litigation, limiting the application of the NHK-Fintiv rule in a new interim gui...
Read full postJudge Albright, Again the Nation’s Top Patent Judge in Q2, Gets Further Pushback from Federal Circuit
July 13, 2022
The top judge in Q2 2022 was Western District of Texas Judge Alan D. Albright, with 25% of new litigation filed in his courtroom. Judge Albright—who has gone to great lengths to attract patent litigation, drawing the ire of Congress in th...
Read full postLitigants Wielding Alice Succeed More Often When Challenging Patents Asserted by NPEs
June 29, 2022
RPX data on patent eligibility show that defendants succeed more often against NPEs when arguing that patents asserted against them are invalid under Alice, the Supreme Court’s June 2014 ruling on patent eligibility. Following that decisi...
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