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ARTICLE · 10 DECEMBER 2019

Where Are All The PGRs?

Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner LLP
Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner LLP
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Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner LLP

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Note that the PGR data remain fairly volatile because the numbers are small.

United StatesIntellectual Property
Mark Feldstein
Mark Feldstein
Joshua Goldberg
Joshua Goldberg
Gracie K. Mills
Gracie K. Mills
Stacy Lewis
Stacy Lewis
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Introduction

The America Invents Act ("AIA"), signed into law on September 16, 2011, created two types of post-grant proceedings: inter partes reviews (IPRs) and post-grant reviews (PGRs) Enough time has now passed to be able to look at PGR outcomes. This post reviews activity in PGRs, considers why there are still so few relative to IPRs, and identifies statistics showing why PGRs may be the better option for some patent challengers. Note that the PGR data remain fairly volatile because the numbers are small. The IPR numbers are larger and therefore more robust. We chose to represent the charts in percentage terms for comparison purposes, but the small size of the PGR dataset dictates that restraint must be exercised to avoid reading too much into the data.

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