January 13, 2026

Reports

Patent Dispute Report: 2025 in Review

January 13, 2026

Reports

Seeking to bypass a record-setting wave of procedural denials from the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB), which rose more than 630% year-over-year, defendants increasingly turned to the USPTO for ex parte reexaminations. In Q4 2025, the institution rate against NPEs fell to 33.6% (from 64.6% in Q1 2025) and against operating companies decreased to 53.2% (from 81.6%). This shift drove reexamination requests to an all-time high in 2025, representing a 66% increase over 2024 and signaling a major tactical pivot in patent validity challenges.

The surge in PTAB procedural denials and the record-high reexamination requests are the direct outcomes of procedural changes initiated by former Acting Director Coke Morgan Stewart (addressed in previous Unified Patents reports) and expanded by Director John Squires, who took office in September 2025, including most recently:

Revoking delegation of institution decisions from PTAB panels and assuming personal responsibility for all inter partes review (IPR) and post grant review (PGR) institution determinations. Under this new structure, the Director issues concise summary notices rather than detailed opinions; consultation with at least three PTAB judges is required, but final authority rests with the Director; and detailed treatment or referral to PTAB panels is reserved only for “novel or important” factual issues.

Restoring the practice of requiring PTAB petitioners to identify all real parties in interest before institution.

Although PTAB filings during the first six months of 2025 had been on pace to exceed previous levels—reaching 53.9% of the 2024 total—the year concluded with a downward trend. By year-end, total PTAB petitions had declined by 5.8% year-over-year.

The drop in PTAB institutions and petitions filed is likely to continue, given that in October 2025, the USPTO introduced proposed rules aimed at codifying the following restrictions for IPRs:

Petitioners must abandon all Section 102/103 defenses in all other forums in order to be eligible.

Denial is mandatory if any claim was previously upheld by the USPTO, ITC, or a court, regardless of the parties or prior art involved.

If a parallel proceeding is scheduled to resolve validity first, the petition must be denied.

The Director retains discretion to institute proceedings in "exceptional circumstances," though the proposed rules explicitly exclude new prior art, expert testimony, or case law developments from qualifying as exceptional.

Other key takeaways from 2025:

NPE district court filings jumped 21.6% in 2025 compared to 2024; overall, district court patent case filings increased by 12% over 2024’s numbers. The Eastern District of Texas remains the most popular court for patent case filings, including filings by NPEs.

Infringement actions filed in the Unified Patent Court (UPC) increased by 25% over 2024.

Procedural Denials in PTAB Increase Significantly: The PTAB issued a record-high 607 denials in 2025, and the number of pending PTAB petitions fell to a 10-year low.

PTAB Institution Rate Against NPEs Remains Below Operating Companies: Since the PTAB changed its procedures for discretionary denials earlier in 2025, the overall institution rate has dropped. In 2025, the institution rate for petitions against NPEs fell below 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}.

Quarterly Institution Rates in the PTAB by Entity: The quarterly PTAB institution rates decreased between Q1 and Q4 2025 for both NPEs and operating companies, with the institution rate against NPEs falling below 15% in Q3 before rebounding to just below 34% in Q4. The institution rate against operating companies was just below 34% in Q3 before increasing to 53.2% in Q4.

PTAB Procedural Denials vs. Requests for Ex Parte Reexaminations: Requests for ex parte reexaminations reached an all-time high (726) in 2025, mirroring the rise of discretionary denials at the PTAB, which also reached an all-time high (607) that same year.

Filings in 2025: PTAB petitions decreased 5.9% from 1,361 petitions in 2024 to 1,281 petitions in 2025. Requests for ex parte reexamination increased 66.1% from 437 requests filed in 2024 to 726 requests filed in 2025. District court patent cases increased 12% from 4,053 filings in 2024 to 4,531 filings in 2025.

The top five district courts for patent litigation filings in 2025: E.D.Tex. (27.7%), W.D.Tex. (11.5%), D.Del. (11.4%), N.D.Ill. (8.5%), and D.N.J. (5.0%). 2025 marks the apparent resurgence of the W.D.Tex., which in 2024 had been the fourth-most popular venue for patent litigation filings after the E.D.Tex., the N.D.Ill. and the D.Del.

The top five district courts for NPE patent litigation filings in 2025: Texas remains the epicenter of NPE litigation, with the E.D.Tex. (44.2%) and W.D.Tex. (17.5%) accounting for more than 60% of all cases. Other top venues included the D.Del. (8.7%), N.D.Tex. (3.8%), and N.D.Cal. (3.5%). Compared to 2024, the E.D.Tex. saw a slight decrease in its share, while the W.D.Tex. and D.Del. experienced modest growth.

Top 10 Plaintiffs in District Court in 2025: Nine of the top ten patent plaintiffs filing in district court in 2025 were NPEs, with the top spot going to Torus Ventures LLC, a Jeffrey Gross entity. In fact, three of the top district court patent plaintiffs in 2025 were Jeffrey Gross entities. Last year’s top patent plaintiff, Patent Armory, was the No. 3 patent plaintiff in 2025.

Post-Grant Proceedings in 2025: IPR petitions fell to 60.4% of total filings (from 73.0% in 2024), while ex parte reexaminations increased to 36.0% (up from 24.6%).

Top 10 Patent Owners in PTAB in 2025: Seven of the top ten patent owners defending against a PTAB petition filed in 2025 were NPEs.

Top 10 Defendants in District Court and Top 10 PTAB Petitioners in 2025: For both 2024 and 2025, Samsung ranked as the No. 1 defendant in district court patent filings and the No. 1 petitioner at the PTAB.

Filing Trends in District Court by Entity Type over Time: NPEs increased their lead in patent litigation, filing 55.4% of cases (up from 51.8% in 2024). Operating companies saw their share decrease to 41.2% (down from 44.9%).

Filing Trends in High Tech in District Court by Entity Type: In 2025, the concentration of NPE activity within the high-tech sector intensified. While NPEs accounted for 55.4% of all patent filings, they were responsible for a staggering 90.3% of high-tech patent litigation. This reflects a widening gap compared to 2024, when NPEs initiated 88% of high-tech cases despite comprising 51.8% of total patent filings.

Filing Trends in PTAB by Entity Type over Time: In a notable shift from 2024, NPEs became the primary targets of PTAB petitions in 2025. While operating companies owned the majority of challenged patents in 2024 (52.7%), they accounted for only 46.1% in 2025, with NPE ownership rising to 52.1%.

Filing Trends in High Tech at the PTAB by Entity Type: In 2025, NPEs were the target of 70.3% of high-tech PTAB challenges—an increase from 63.5% in 2024—yet they continued to drive a disproportionate 90.3% of high-tech district court litigation.

District Court Patent Litigation by Industry Type over Time: In 2025, high-tech litigation continued to dominate district court patent case filings, rising to 58.9% from 57% in 2024. Conversely, the share of medical-related cases saw a slight decline, falling from 13.3% in 2024 to 12.1% in 2025.

PTAB Petitions by Industry Type over Time: PTAB petitions in the high-tech industry rose to 73.1% (up from 69.6% in 2024), while medical-related petitions reached 12.7% (up from 11.6%).

Unified Patent Court: In 2025, the UPC saw a 25.6% increase in infringement actions (206 total) over 2024, peaking with an all-time monthly high in June. However, validity challenges cooled, with standalone revocations down 25.8% and counterclaims down 48.3%. NPE activity grew significantly, as their infringement actions as claimants increased by 50%. This boosted the NPE share of all infringement claimants to 21.8%, compared to 18.3% in 2024.

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 December 31, 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.

Jennifer Gallagher

October 9, 2025

Reports

Patent Dispute Report: Q3 2025 in Review

Jennifer Gallagher

October 9, 2025

Reports

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.