Following new guidelines introduced in February and March 2025, discretionary denials at the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) reached an all-time high in the third quarter of 2025. These changes, including a bifurcated review process, expanded discretionary denial factors and revival of the Fintiv test, have also caused the overall institution rate to drop.
In addition, the USPTO has said recently that patents that have been issued for more than six years (or sometimes, less) can create "settled expectations," such that IPR (inter partes review) challenges should be denied. But the vast majority of challenged patents at the PTAB have been well beyond six years of age. And NPE (non-practicing entity) patents have been materially older—a result of older patents changing hands later in life and being asserted well after their useful life by operating companies. In fact, the data indicates that the average age for a challenged NPE patent in the PTAB is 16.3 years, while the average age for a challenged OpCo (operating company) patent in the PTAB is 12.6 years.
The settled expectations theory leads naturally to NPEs having a far lower institution rate—i.e., petitioners challenging NPE patents are far more likely to be denied—given they are materially older.
As a result, while the institution rate against NPEs historically has been higher than the institution rate against operating companies, this trend has reversed, with the NPE institution rate now significantly lower.
Despite the decrease in institutions, PTAB petition filings saw only a modest 3.5% decrease between Q2 and Q3. The future volume of filings is uncertain, especially with new PTAB rules effective September 1, 2025 that restrict the use of “general knowledge,” such as expert testimony, common sense, or applicant-admitted prior art.
In contrast, requests for ex parte reexaminations reached an all-time high during the first nine months of 2025, jumping by 46% between Q2 and Q3, suggesting that would-be PTAB petitioners were looking for an alternative venue to challenge patents.
Meanwhile, in the federal district courts, the number of patent filings dipped 8.9% between Q2 and Q3. The Eastern District of Texas continues to be the most popular venue for patent case filings, including filings by NPEs.
Additional takeaways:
Based on the first nine months of 2025, PTAB, ex parte reexamination, and district court filings currently remain on pace to exceed 2024’s numbers.
The W.D.Tex. remains the second most popular venue for patent filings and NPE patent filings in the first nine months of 2025. However, it is a distant second to the E.D.Tex. Combined, the E.D.Tex. and the W.D.Tex. accounted for 40% of all patent cases filed in the first nine months of 2025 and 62.8% of all NPE cases filed during the same time period.
In the Unified Patent Court, the number of infringement actions filed in the third quarter of 2025 increased 42% over the first half of 2025.
Procedural Denials in PTAB Increase Significantly: The PTAB issued a record-high 254 denials in the third quarter of 2025. This marks a 77.6% increase over the first half of the year and a 206% increase in procedural denials compared to all of 2024.
PTAB Rate of Institution Against NPEs Now Below Rate Against Operating Companies: Since the PTAB changed its procedures for discretionary denials earlier this year, the overall institution rate has dropped. This shift has also reversed a historical trend (excluding brief periods of time here and there), as the institution rate for petitions against NPEs is now lower than the institution rate against operating companies. The institution rate is {the number of institutions during the 12-month sliding window period} ÷ {the total number of both institutions & denials during that same period}.
In the third quarter of 2025, the institution rate for PTAB petitions against NPEs was more than 25% lower than the institution rate against operating companies (OpCo).
Requests for Ex Parte Reexaminations: Requests for ex parte reexaminations in the third quarter of 2025 reached an all-time high (198), and based on the number of requests filed in first nine months of 2025 (425), 2025 is currently on pace to well surpass 2024’s numbers (437). The trend of increasing ex parte reexaminations mirrors the rise of PTAB discretionary denials at the PTAB.
PTAB, Ex Parte and District Court Filings Still on Pace to Exceed 2024: Filing trends for the first nine months of 2025 show mixed results. PTAB filings decreased 3.5% from Q2 to Q3, with the nine-month total at 79.9% of 2024’s numbers. Ex parte reexamination filings increased 46.0% from Q2 to Q3, and the first nine months of 2025 are at 97.3% of 2024’s volume. District court filings decreased 8.9% from Q2 to Q3, but the first nine months of 2025 are at 85.4% of 2024’s total.
Eastern District of Texas Remains No. 1: The E.D.Tex. continues to be the most popular venue for patent filings, with 28.3% of all patent cases filed in the first nine months of 2025, essentially unchanged compared to the first half of 2025 (28.2%). The E.D.Tex. is followed by the W.D.Tex. at 11.3%, the D.Del. at 11.0%, the N.D.Ill. at 8.2%, and the D.N.J. at 5.3% for the same period.
NPEs Overwhelmingly Prefer the Eastern District of Texas: The E.D.Tex. continues to dominate NPE case filings, with 45.4% of all filings in the first nine months of 2025. This is comparable to the first half of 2025, where 44.9% of NPE case filings were in the E.D.Tex. The W.D.Tex. (17.4%) and the D.Del. (8.0%) remain a distant second and third for NPE case filings for the same period.
NPEs Dominate the Top 10 Plaintiffs: In the first nine months of 2025, eight of the top 10 plaintiffs in district court were NPEs. Two of the plaintiffs (Torus, HyperQuery LLC) are Jeffrey M. Gross entities, and two are Pueblo Nuevo LLC entities (WirelessWerx IP, Linfo IP).
Post-Grant Proceedings: In the first nine months of 2025, petitions for ex parte reexaminations accounted for 28.1% of filings in post-grant proceedings, an increase of 5.3% over the first half of 2025. Reflecting the increase in discretionary denials, petitions for inter partes review decreased 5.8% from the first half of 2025, and accounted for 67.9% of requests for post-grant proceedings.
Top 10 Patent Owners in PTAB: In the first nine months of 2025, six out of the top 10 patent owners defending against a petition filed in the PTAB were NPEs: Telcom Ventures LLC, Advanced Integrated, Apex Beam, Dialect LLC, Advanced Coding, and CardWare.
Top 10 Defendants in District Court and Top 10 PTAB Defendants: The most active defendants in district court and the most active petitioners in the PTAB in the first nine months of 2025 overlap, with Samsung, Apple, Amazon and Google in the top four spots for both.
Filing Trends in District Court by Entity: NPEs filed 56.4% of the patent cases in district court in the first nine months of 2025, while operating companies filed 39.7%. This is comparable to the half-year data, where NPEs filed 56.1% of the patent cases, and operating companies filed 40.3%.
Filing Trends in High Tech by Entity Type: In the first nine months of 2025, NPEs filed 91.4% of the district court patent cases in the high tech industry space. This is nearly identical to the half-year data, where NPEs filed 91% of the district court patent cases in the high tech space.
Filing Trends in PTAB by Entity Type over Time: In the first nine months of 2025, NPEs were patent owners on 50.7% of PTAB petitions, and operating companies 47.3%. Compared to the first half of the year, the NPE figure is comparable (50.5%), while the operating company percentage has slightly increased (from 48.6%).
Filing Trends in High Tech at the PTAB by Entity Type: In the first nine months of 2025, 69.2% of high-tech PTAB challenges were against NPEs and 30.8% were against operating companies. This represents a slight decrease in challenges against NPEs (from 70.6%) and a slight increase against operating companies (from 29.4%) compared to the first half of the year.
District Court Patent Litigation by Industry Type over Time: In the first nine months of the year, 59.8% of district court patent cases filed were in the high tech industry space, and 12.8% were in the medical industry space.
PTAB Petitions by Industry Type over Time: In the first nine months of 2025, 72.6% of the PTAB petitions filed were in the high tech industry space, and 12.3% were filed in the medical industry space.
Infringement and Revocation Actions and Counterclaims in Unified Patent Court over Time: Notably, Unified Patent Court infringement actions are increasing, with 152 filings in the first nine months of 2025 on track to surpass 2024's total of 162. Third-quarter filings saw a 42% increase over the first half of 2025.
Definitions
Sectors
High-Tech = Technologies relating to Software, Hardware, and Networking
Medical = Technologies relating to Pharmaceuticals, Medical Devices, Health Related Technologies
Other = Technologies relating to Mechanical, Packaged Goods, Sporting Equipment and any other area outside of high-tech and medical patents.
Entities
Non Practicing Entity (NPE) = Company which derives the majority of its total revenue from Patent Licensing activities.
Operating Company or Op. Co. = Company which derives most of its total revenue from Product Sales or Services. Could be an SME or a large company.
Other Entity = Universities / Non-Profits / Government / Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs)
NPE (Patent Assertion Entities) = Entity whose primary activity is licensing patents and acquired most of its patents from another entity
NPE (Small Company) = Entity whose original activity was providing products and services, but now is primarily focused on monetizing its own patent portfolio.
NPE (Individual) = Entity owned or controlled by an individual inventor who is primarily focused on monetizing inventions patents by that individual inventor.
NPE Aggregator = Entity that has control or ownership over two or more entities.
Litigation Investment Entities = Evidence of any third party with a financial interest, other than the assertors.
Venues
CACD = Central District of California
CAND = Northern District of California
DED = Delaware
Methodology
This report includes all District Court, PTAB, Reexam, and UPC cases between January 1, 2012 and Sept. 30, 2025.
The total number of reported cases can vary based on what is included. Unified made its best attempt to eliminate mistaken, duplicative, or changes in venue filings, hence the totals may vary slightly compared to other reporting entities. Statistics include litigations initiated by NPEs or Declaratory Judgments (DJs) initiated by operating companies against NPEs.
Unified strives to accurately identify NPEs through all available means, such as court filings, public documents, and product documentation.
