Does Spike In IPR Settlements Signify Petitioner Success?

The most recent IPR statistics have shown a sharp increase in the number of settlements, both before and after institution decisions, as revealed in the following chart.

What is most remarkable is the huge spike in settlements prior to institution. In fiscal year 2015, the number of pre-institution settlements (217) has more than doubled from the prior year and also has far outstripped the number of post-institution settlements (141), which were roughly equal the prior year (with 106 pre-institution settlements and 104 post-institution settlements).

Higher Settlement Rate May Be Lowering Institution Rate

Some commentators have noted that the rates of IPR institution and final decision invalidity have declined, but this may in part result from the large increase in settlements highlighted above, which are preventing an increasingly large share of IPRs from either reaching an institution decision or a final decision.