July 9, 2021
Authored and Edited by Daniel F. Klodowski; Michael R. Galgano; Zachery D. Olah; Aaron L. Parker; Elliot C. Cook
The Patent Trial and Appeal Board issued 34 IPR, CBM, and PGR Final Written Decisions in April, including decisions following remands from the Federal Circuit, cancelling 230 (69.49%) instituted claims while maintaining the patentability of 101 (30.51%) instituted claims. Patent owners did not concede any instituted claims through motions to amend or disclaimer in cases reaching a final decision. For comparison, the cumulative average rate of instituted claims cancelled in IPR, CBM, and PGR Final Written Decisions is about 73%.

On a per-case basis, no instituted or substitute claims survived in 17 (50%) decisions, all instituted claims survived in 8 (23.53%) decisions, and a mixed outcome occurred in 9 (26.47%) decisions. A mixed outcome occurs where at least one instituted or substitute claim remains patentable, and at least one is cancelled, in a Final Written Decision.

In May, the PTAB issued 18 IPR, CBM, and PGR Final Written Decisions, cancelling 198 (76.15%) instituted claims while maintaining the patentability of 62 (23.85%) instituted claims. Patent owners again did not concede any claims through motions to amend or disclaimer in cases reaching a final decision.

On a per-case basis, no instituted or substitute claims survived in 13 (72.22%) decisions, all instituted claims survived in 4 (22.22%) decisions, and a mixed outcome occurred in 1 (5.56%) decision.

The overall cumulative instituted claim survival rate in IPRs, CBMs, and PGRs, broken down by technology center, is as follows:

More detailed cumulative statistics on the Board’s IPR, CBM, and PGR decisions, updated through May 31, 2021, are available here on the At the PTAB Blog.
Statistics regarding the outcome of appeals to the Federal Circuit are available here.
Numbers of final written decisions by technology center and instituted claim survival rates by technology center are available here.
Various other PTAB metrics collected and generated by Finnegan are reserved for the use of Finnegan and its clients. Stay tuned to the At the PTAB Blog for the latest updates, analysis, and statistics on all aspects of PTAB and Federal Circuit practice. Subscribe to the At the PTAB Blog to receive notifications of new posts via email.
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