Since the creation of the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) in 2012, the Board has seen a flood of petitions. In just three years, the number of petitions filed jumped from 110 to nearly 1,800. But data shows that the rate is beginning to stabilize. Law360 contacted Finnegan attorney Linda J. Thayer for her thoughts on the rate of petitions at the PTAB over the past few years.
Thayer said, "The PTAB is taking on a vast number of challenges of specious patents and ruling on the validity of patents before substantial costs are expended in district court litigation. It’s playing a substantial role and exactly the role Congress intended for it to play." Thayer also believes that if the Board becomes increasingly efficient in handling AIA proceedings within the one year statutory deadline, more defendants may challenge patents there. "I think the pendency of AIA proceedings will go down, and the PTAB will get to final written decisions sooner. Right now, if a defendant is facing concurrent litigation in Texas or the Eastern District of Virginia, the defendant may think twice before filing an inter partes review because it may not be completed fast enough for the court to grant a stay. But if the pendency of AIA reviews goes down, we could see a small increase in the number of petitions," said Thayer.