Ex Parte Reexamination Statistics (Updated Quarterly)

This page tracks how many ex parte reexamination requests are filed with the USPTO, how often the Office grants them, how long they take and how they end. ExamPat refreshes it every quarter from its database of USPTO reexamination records. The figures below were pulled on October 20, 2026, and cover complete quarters through the third quarter of 2026.

For how the procedure works, see our guide to ex parte reexamination. The quarterly table is also available as a CSV download.

At a glance

• Filings (Q2 2026): In the second quarter of 2026, 298 ex parte reexamination requests were filed against utility patents, the most of any quarter since at least 2024, according to ExamPat's analysis of USPTO records.
• Annual trend (2025): Utility-patent reexamination requests rose to 561 in 2025 from 321 in 2024, a 75% increase, and 2026 passed the 2025 total by the end of September with 699.
• Grant rate (Q2 and Q3 2026): The USPTO ordered reexamination on 84% of the requests it decided in the second quarter of 2026 and 85% in the third, compared with 93% to 98% in every year from 2013 to 2025.
• Timing (since 2012): The median utility-patent request got its decision on a substantial new question 45 days after filing.
• Certificates (since 2012): The median certificate issued 364 days after filing without an appeal and 943 days with one.
• Outcomes (since 2012): All reexamined claims were cancelled in 22% of utility-patent certificates and all were confirmed unchanged in 29%.

Requests filed per quarter

As of October 20, 2026, ExamPat counts 298 utility-patent reexamination requests filed in the second quarter of 2026, the highest quarterly count in this table. The third-quarter figure is provisional.

Counts are by the filing date in USPTO records. The most recent quarter is provisional and usually rises as requests still in preprocessing receive a patent number and are added. Seventeen third-quarter requests had no patent number on record when this edition was pulled.

Requests filed per year

As of October 20, 2026, utility-patent reexamination filings in 2025 were nearly triple the 2020 level.

Grant rate per quarter

As of October 20, 2026, the USPTO ordered reexamination on 83.8% of the requests it decided in the second quarter of 2026 and 85.2% in the third, the two lowest quarterly rates in this table.

The grant rate is orders divided by orders plus denials, counted in the quarter the decision was made. The third quarter of 2026 is provisional because denials tend to be recorded later than orders, so recent rates usually fall as the records fill in.

For context, the annual grant rate from 2013 to 2025 ranged from 93.1% to 97.6% and averaged 95.3%.

How long reexamination takes

As of October 20, 2026, the median utility-patent request filed since 2012 got its decision on a substantial new question 45 days after filing.

ExamPat's examiner pages show the record of each reexamination examiner.

How reexaminations end

As of October 20, 2026, all reexamined claims were cancelled in 22.3% of utility-patent reexamination certificates issued on requests filed since 2012.

"Some claims cancelled" means at least one claim was cancelled while others were confirmed or amended. Shares exclude 17 certificates ExamPat hasn't yet classified.

Methodology

ExamPat builds this page from its database of USPTO ex parte reexamination records, which is updated daily. Data for this edition was pulled on October 20, 2026.

• Patent type. A request counts as a utility-patent request when the reexamined patent's number is all digits. Design patent numbers start with D and reissue numbers start with RE. Requests with no patent number recorded are left out of both counts.
• Filings. Requests are counted by the filing date in USPTO records and grouped by calendar quarter or year. The headline counts cover utility patents only. Adding design and reissue patents gives 318 requests for the second quarter of 2026 instead of 298. Other published counts differ mainly for that reason, because sources date requests differently, and because early figures are revised as records settle.
• Grant rate. Orders granting reexamination and decisions denying it are counted by the date of the decision, across all patent types. The rate is orders divided by orders plus denials. Requests still awaiting a decision aren't counted. ExamPat's decision counts reconcile to the USPTO's published quarterly statistics.
• Timing. Medians cover utility-patent requests filed since January 1, 2012. The decision and first office action medians use every case that has reached that step. Certificate medians use cases that ended in a certificate, split by whether the patent owner filed an appeal.
• Outcomes. Certificate outcomes cover utility-patent requests filed since January 1, 2012 that ended in a certificate.
• What's excluded. The current quarter is left out until it ends. This page reports office-wide figures only.

Revision log

• 2026-10-20: first publication

How to cite

ExamPat, "Ex Parte Reexamination Statistics," data as of 2026-10-20, https://exampat.com/blog/reexamination-statistics