5 Distinctions Between IPRs And District Court Patent Litigation

Over 3,600 petitions for inter partes review (IPR) have been filed with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) since this post-grant procedure became available in 2012. Those IPRs often have related district court patent cases, many of which are being stayed pending adjudication of the IPRs. One practical consequence of this fundamental shift in U.S. patent practice is that patent litigators are now routinely finding themselves thrown into the unfamiliar world of PTAB practice, which bears little resemblance to district court litigation. Indeed, at times the rules and procedures are direct opposites. Litigators must appreciate these fundamental differences to successfully represent clients before the PTAB. In this article, Finnegan attorneys  Michael J. Flibbert and  Maureen D. Queler examine five key areas of practical distinctions between district court litigation and IPRs.