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Fewer petitions to US PTAB push Big Law to adapt, not retreat

By Steve Scherer ( April 9, 2026, 19:45 GMT | Comment) -- For over a decade, large law firms developed specialized practices focused on handling intellectual property disputes before the US Patent Trial and Appeal Board. Now, with fewer petitions making it through to the forum, those firms are pivoting to district court work, expanding their prelitigation counseling and relying more on alternatives such as ex parte re-examinations to make up the difference, according to attorneys from five major firms who spoke with MLex.For more than a decade, large law firms built specialized practices to handle intellectual property challenges at the US Patent and Trademark Office's Patent Trial and Appeal Board. Now, as fewer petitions reach the forum, big firms are shifting back to district courts, ramping up their prelitigation counseling and leaning on alternative proceedings like ex parte re-examinations to fill the gap, lawyers from five large firms told MLex....

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