PTAB Trends: Top Firms and Attorneys

When it comes to PTAB proceedings, who are the major players? Which firms and attorneys are handling the lion’s share of the cases – and who is making waves?

This fall marks the tenth anniversary of post-grant proceedings at the PTAB, and some interesting trends have emerged regarding which technologies, firms, and expert witnesses have been most active when it comes to IPR, PGR, and CBM. This ongoing series will examine these trends to help you grow your post-grant practice, hire the best experts, and optimize litigation at the PTAB. See a sneak peek of the data in our on-demand webinar, and make sure you are subscribed to our newsletter for the latest. 

Using the same database that powers Juristat PTAB Expert Search, we analyzed disposed PTAB trials with initial filing dates between 2017-2021. This analysis covers nearly 6,000 trials and nearly 700 firms. This research was conducted in September 2022. 

Top 25 Firms at the PTAB

To find the top firms by volume in PTAB proceedings, we analyzed nearly 700 firms from our dataset and ranked them by their number of disposed trials. 

When we ranked the major and emerging players at the PTAB we looked specifically at petitioners and owners. Here, we combined the petitioner and owner sides.  While we know there are some firms that say they specialize in defending patent owners, or vice versa, it wasn’t significant enough to break them out into separate lists. 

Top Attorneys at the PTAB

Getting even more granular, we also analyzed 1,500 individual attorneys from our dataset to find the most prolific in PTAB proceedings. This ranking is, again, based on the number of disposed trials during that five-year period of 2017-2020, ranked by the number disposed trials. 

It may not be surprising, but it is worth noting that the attorneys on this list all practice at firms that hold a spot on the top firms list.

The Emerging Firms at the PTAB 

Perhaps the more interesting list is that of the up-and-comers. These are the firms growing their PTAB practice, the practitioners that you’ll find yourself competing with for business. For this analysis, we defined “emerging” as entities with an above-average number of disposed trials in 2021, ranked by their percent change in trials from 2017 to 2021. You’ll note we included each firm’s number of disposed trials in 2021 on the chart as well.

Here are the Emerging Firms: 

You can take a deeper look at this data in our on-demand webinar, What's Trending at the PTAB: The Top Firms, Companies, Experts and More. 

If you are active in PTAB proceedings, the major players highlighted here may not surprise you. But hopefully, it offers some valuable insight on where your firm falls, or which attorney might be best to represent your company. 

One way to improve your PTAB litigation is to ditch the recruiter fees and identify expert witnesses independently, based on data. An annual subscription to Juristat PTAB Expert Search is one-third the cost of recruiters, and will both lower and fix costs associated with PTAB cases. Want to see our PTAB Expert Search in action? Watch a 5-minute intro video.