Navigating Inter Partes Review Appeals in the Federal Circuit: A Statistical Review

• Author: Christopher A. Suarez
• Position: Christopher A. Suarez is a litigation associate at Williams & Connolly LLP. His practice includes litigation before the federal district courts, the Patent Trial and Appeal Board, and the federal courts of appeals, including the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.
• Pages: 51-61

Published in Landslide® magazine, Volume 9, Number 3, a publication of the ABA Section of Intellectual Property Law (ABA-IPL), ©2016 by the American Bar Association. Reproduced with permission. All rights reserved. This

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Navigating Inter Partes

Review Appeals in the

Federal Circuit

By ChristopherA. Suarez

A Statistical

Review

Inter partes review (IPR) proceedings before the

Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) began

in earnest just over four years ago—on Septem-

ber 16, 2012. These proceedings have dramatically

changed the landscape of patent litigation in the

United States. Though IPRs are restricted to antici-

pation and obviousness challenges using patents

and printed publications, they have proven to be a

cost-effective complement to district court litiga-

tion. Well over 5,000 IPRs have been led to date,1

and the trend shows no signs of slowing down.

Illustration: iStockPhoto