Law360 recently analyzed Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) appeals at the Federal Circuit, noting that the Federal Circuit affirmed decisions by the PTAB at a lower rate in 2016 than the previous year. In 2015, the Federal Circuit affirmed PTAB decisions 85 percent of the time. In 2016, 72 percent of PTAB decisions were affirmed by the Federal Circuit. Law360 reached to Finnegan attorney Joshua L. Goldberg for his thoughts.
Goldberg said that when litigants see someone make a successful argument at the Federal Circuit, they will often try to present their arguments in similar ways to get the same result. "The additional patent owner successes at the Federal Circuit feed on themselves," he said. "Once somebody has success, a lot of people will see it and try to copy it."
