by Matthew Johnson | Feb 4, 2026 | Claim Construction, PTAB News, PTAB Trial Basics, Trial Institution
By Ian Adams, Matt Modderman, Matt Johnson – USPTO Director John Squires issued a decision on October 3, 2025, denying a request to discretionarily deny institution in Caption Health, Inc. v. The University of British Columbia, IPR2025-01422, Paper 15 at 3 (Dec....
by Carl Kukkonen | Jan 21, 2026 | PTAB News, PTAB Trial Basics, Trial Institution
By Carl Kukkonen and Matt Johnson – On January 9, 2026, USPTO Director John A. Squires designated four recent discretionary-denial rulings as precedential and nine more as informative, formalizing a developing framework for how and when the Office will exercise...
by Matthew Johnson | Jan 15, 2026 | PTAB News, PTAB Trial Basics, Trial Institution
By Matt Johnson – The institution rate for post-grant petitions in FY 2026 through the end of November (the period from Oct. 1, 2025 through November 30, 2025) stands at 37% (118 instituted, 197 denied). As expected, this rate is substantially lower than the...
by David Maiorana | Jan 8, 2026 | Estoppel, PTAB News, PTAB Trial Basics
By Erin Bies, David Linden, and Dave Maiorana – On appeal from an ex parte reexamination (“EPR”) decision, the Federal Circuit held that a final written decision of an inter partes review (“IPR”) does not preclude the Patent Office from maintaining an ongoing...
by Matthew Johnson | Dec 23, 2025 | Prior Art Issues, PTAB News, PTAB Trial Basics, Trial Institution
By Ruth Brindel,* Daniel Sloan, and Matt Johnson On November 17, 2025, USPTO Director John Squires issued a memorandum introducing a new procedure allowing petitioners to submit a voluntary Search Disclosure Declaration (SDD) that explains the petitioner’s search...
by Matthew Johnson | Dec 18, 2025 | PTAB News, PTAB Trial Basics, Trial Institution
By Ruth Brindel* and Matt Johnson The USPTO’s Acting Deputy Director, Coke Morgan Stewart, issued a decision on October 3, 2025, declining to exercise discretion to deny institution in Carbyne, Inc. v. Tritech Software Systems, IPR2025-00959, Paper 11 (Oct. 3 2025)....
