Squires Confirms PTAB Judges Will Resume Institution Calls

Law360, Dani Kass , September 29, 2026

Administrative patent judges will soon resume deciding whether Patent Trial and Appeal Board challenges will be instituted on the merits, U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Director John Squires told the Senate during a hearing that also raised questions about if the office has sacrificed patent quality to speed through an examination backlog.

Patent Dealmakers Warn USPTO Assignment Data Remains Unreliable After Outage

IAM, Angela Morris , September 28, 2026

There appears to be significant ongoing problems with data the US Patent and Trademark Office is releasing about patent transactions, and stakeholders say the agency is stonewalling them when they seek answers about the unreliable data feed.

USPTO Is Seeing A Rise In Continued Examination Requests

Law360, Theresa Schliep , September 25, 2026

Requests for continued examination of patent applications have ballooned at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, a trend attributed in part to the agency's success at decreasing the backlog of new applications. In the 2026 fiscal year so far, the USPTO has a little over 30,500 requests for continued examination in its inventory, an increase from roughly 10,700 applications in its 2025 fiscal year inventory.

Industry Groups, IP Attys Back High Court PTAB Denials Case

Law360, Theresa Schliep , September 7, 2026

The bar association for the Patent Trial and Appeal Board, a group of intellectual property law attorneys and others have urged the U.S. Supreme Court to scrutinize the discretionary denial policies of current U.S. Patent and Trademark Office leadership. In amicus briefs, e-learning company Kahoot! AS's challenge to USPTO Director John Squires' institution policies got the backing of groups like Askeladden LLC,  the Association for Affordable Medicine, the Software & Information Industry Association and the PTAB Bar Association.

An Inside Look At Squires' Discretionary Denials

Law360, Nikhil Krishnan & Todd Baker , September 3, 2026

Under U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Director John Squires, discretionary denial has become the single most significant obstacle to institution of America Invents Act proceedings. Since he took over institution decisions on Oct. 31, 2025, he has denied nearly 60% of petitions on discretionary grounds, without reaching the merits. Every discretionary denial decision issued by Squires between Oct. 31, 2025, and Aug. 25 this year, and corresponding briefs were analyzed. This article reveals the commonly asserted discretionary denial arguments and evaluates which arguments most strongly correlated with institution outcomes.

USPTO Policies Spur Reps To Float Conditions On Fee Power

Law360, Ryan Davis , September 2, 2026

Several lawmakers expressed concern at a hearing Wednesday about recent U.S. Patent and Trademark Office policies, including increased denials of patent reviews, and questioned if Congress should respond by putting conditions on the office's power to set its own fees.

USPTO Anonymous Reexam Proposal Spurs Concern, Praise

Law360, Ryan Davis , August 24, 2026

A U.S. Patent and Trademark Office proposal to effectively end the ability to be completely anonymous when requesting patent reexaminations drew numerous concerns from industry and attorney groups, as well as supportive remarks from patent owners and calls for the office to go further.

USPTO Tells Fed. Circ. 'Settled Expectations' Is Constitutional

Law360, Ryan Davis , August 20, 2026

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has urged the Federal Circuit to reject Google's constitutional challenge to the office's "settled expectations" policy of taking the age of patents into account when deciding whether to review them, saying the rule is "eminently rational."

Askeladden Urges Supreme Court to Review USPTO Discretion Over IPR Proceedings

Amicus brief argues Federal Circuit ruling improperly shields USPTO policies governing inter partes review from judicial review.

New York, NY , August 19, 2026 — Askeladden L.L.C. filed an amicus curiae brief with the U.S. Supreme Court in support of Intel Corporation and Google LLC, urging the Court to grant their petition for certiorari and review whether extra-statutory U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) policies governing inter partes review (IPR) may be insulated from judicial review.

Big Tech, PTAB Attys Urge Justices To Fix USPTO Power Grab

Law360, Dani Kass , August 18, 2026

The Federal Circuit's refusal to curb the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office director's power over instituting Patent Trial and Appeal Board challenges has allowed leaders to "wreak havoc" without accountability, top tech companies have warned the U.S. Supreme Court. Askeladden said in an amicus brief that the instant appeal is a perfect way to address the agency's approach to institution, as there is no underlying concern over the merits of an unappealable application of the policy.