McKool Smith principal Pierre Hubert discusses the changing climate of the PTAB forum and the recent drop in institutional decisions of inter partes review petitions in a recent report published by Law360.
According to the report, “The PTAB has granted a shrinking number of IPR petitions per patent over the years — from 86 percent in 2013 to 74 percent in 2014 and 65 percent last year”. However, Mr. Hubert explains that “despite the steady descent of the institution rate so far, accused infringers are expected to continue to bring their validity fights to the patent office.” He also notes that the inter partes review process is still “petitioner-friendly,” and expresses doubts that the new statistics will deter petitioners from filing petitions. “Petitions are inexpensive, the inter partes review process is fast, and the risks of filing are few,” Mr. Hubert explained.
The full report can be found here.