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Inter Partes Review (IPR) Filings Collapse to a New Normal

Patent – Patently-O 2026-10-12

by Dennis Crouch

The fiscal year that ended September 30, 2026 closed with about 450 IPR petitions, a third of the 1,400 filed in FY2025 and even fewer than the 510 filed in FY2013, the program's first full year.

Petitions ran about 110 a month through mid-2025. They fell to 61 in November 2025 and 30 in December, and have stayed between 15 and 46 a month ever since. September 2026 came in at 37. There is no sign of a rebound, and also no sign of a further slide: the series has been flat at roughly 30 a month for nine months.

Line chart of IPR petitions filed per month, January 2019 through September 2026, showing a fall from about 110 a month to about 30 a month beginning in late 2025

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