Posts (21)
Is Ex Parte Reexam Still Worth Filing After a Discretionary IPR Denial?
Firms have warned that a discretionary IPR denial may close the door to reexam. In 2026, three in four reexam requests filed after one were still granted.
Reexam Grant Rates Have Been at 84% for Two Quarters
The USPTO ordered reexamination on 84.0% of the ex parte requests it decided in Q2 2026 and 84.5% in Q3. For the fourteen years before that the rate never fell below 93%.
Reexam Grant Rates Held Near 95% for a Decade. This Spring They Dropped.
For fourteen years the USPTO granted a substantial new question in roughly 95% of ex parte reexamination requests. In May 2026 that fell to 70%, the lowest month on record, as the pre-order procedure and 325(d) discretionary denials reached reexamination.
Ex Parte Reexamination Has Overtaken the IPR. The Data to Navigate It Hasn't Caught Up.
Discretionary denials pushed patent challenges out of the PTAB and into ex parte reexamination, a forum that turns on one variable almost no one measures: the assigned examiner. What the mid-2026 numbers say, and what they cannot.
Anonymous Ex Parte Reexam Filings: How They Work and Why It Matters
How third-party challengers file ex parte reexams without naming the real party in interest, when it makes strategic sense, and what anonymity does not protect.
Drafting an SNQ Request That Survives: Lessons From 4,500 Reexams
What separates ex parte reexam requests that clear the SNQ gate from the 5% that don't. Drafting choices, examiner patterns, and the prior-consideration trap.
Estoppel in Ex Parte Reexam: Statutory Limits and Strategic Use
Why ex parte reexam generates no 315(e)-style estoppel, what that means for parallel-track challengers, and the estoppel-adjacent doctrines that still apply.
Ex Parte Reexam vs Inter Partes Review: A 2025 Decision Framework
Side-by-side comparison of EPR and IPR on cost, timing, success rates, and estoppel, with the current state of PTAB discretionary denials factored in.
Ex Parte Reexamination 2024: Annual Report
330 utility-patent ex parte reexamination filings in 2024, continuing the post-2020 climb. Outcome distributions, examiner caseload, and 2025 outlook.
Reexamination of Expired Patents: A Practical Survey
Why patent owners and defendants file ex parte reexams against expired patents, what changes procedurally, and how the six-year damages window drives the strategy.
How an Ex Parte Reexamination Works, Step by Step
Step-by-step walkthrough of USPTO ex parte reexamination from filing through certificate, with pendency benchmarks and SNQ grant rates from 4,500+ reexams.
USPTO Pre-Order Procedure: A Patent Owner's Playbook
April 1, 2026: USPTO gives patent owners a new 30-day pre-order window in ex parte reexamination. What belongs in the paper, and when filing it actually helps.
PTAB Rescinds Sotera: Why Ex Parte Reexam Just Got More Attractive
The USPTO will no longer treat Sotera Stipulations as foreclosing discretionary IPR denial. Structural effects on ex parte reexam filings, and what to watch.
Q1 2025 Reexam Update: The Post-Sotera Surge Begins
Q1 2025 ex parte reexamination filings closed above the 2024 baseline, accelerating after the late-March Sotera rescission. What Q2 will reveal.
State of Ex Parte Reexamination 2025: 598 Filings, +81%
Annual report. 598 ex parte reexamination filings in 2025, an 81% jump from 2024, with 94% third-party. The procedural reset behind the surge.
State of Ex Parte Reexamination: 2026 Preview
Mid-year snapshot of ex parte reexamination at the USPTO. Filings up 81% in 2025 and projected +59% in 2026, plus examiner-profile and rejection-basis data.
Substantial New Question Explained: The 95% Reexam Gate
What 'substantial new question of patentability' means under 35 U.S.C. 303(a), why the USPTO grants SNQ in 95% of cases, and where the 5% denials concentrate.
Sotera Rescission One Year On: The Data Behind the Reexam Surge
One year after Sotera Stipulations stopped being dispositive against discretionary IPR denial, ex parte reexamination filings have surged 81%. Where displaced petitioners went.
Who Decides Your Reexam: The 110+ USPTO Examiners You Should Know
Profile of the 110+ active USPTO ex parte reexamination examiners and the variance across them on pendency, rejection basis, and appeal rate.
Why the Examiner Matters: How One Reviewer Shapes Time and Cost
Pendency, office action count, and appeal rate vary by 2x to 5x across USPTO ex parte reexam examiners. A Peter C. English case study and what the variance means.
Year in Review: How Ex Parte Reexamination Eclipsed IPR in 2025
2025 year-end retrospective on the post-Sotera reexamination surge. Filings up sharply over 2024, third-party-driven, and what the new equilibrium implies for 2026.