A New Era for the PTAB: Discretion Returns, Layoffs Loom, and Early Challenges Encouraged
By EsqSocial Corporation 10/04/25
The USPTO has launched a sweeping recalibration of its post-grant proceedings at the PTAB, signaling a decisive pivot back toward discretionary denials of patent challenges. With the rescission of prior procedural guidance, a heightened risk of Fintiv-based denials, the rollout of a new bifurcation process for institution review, and looming staff reductions, Acting Director Coke Morgan Stewart is steering the PTAB away from late-stage patent attacks and toward a system that favors earlier...
By: Morgan Lewis