Patent challenges before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) under the America Invents Act (AIA) are an established part of a broader patent enforcement or defense strategy. Sterne Kessler's PTAB Trials team is deeply experienced in all proceedings at the PTAB, including inter partes reviews (IPRs), post-grant reviews (PGRs), and derivation proceedings (DERs). We emerged as a leader at the inception of the PTAB, and continue to be a dominant force in the industry today.
Sterne Kessler has been counsel in more than 1,200 PTAB proceedings and counting, and our results continue to be among the very best. But you don’t have to take our word for it—in 2023, Patexia ranked us as the Best Performing Law Firm representing patent owners and a Top Five Best Performing Law Firm representing petitioners or patent owners overall based on a five-year analysis of PTAB proceedings. We were also named U.S. Post-Grant Firm of the Year at the 2023 Global IP Awards by Intellectual Asset Management.
We have one of the most experienced and accomplished PTAB teams in the country, representing petitioners and patent owners across all technologies, including biotechnology, electronics, manufacturing, software, consumer products, automotive, medical devices, and pharmaceuticals, among many others.
Multidisciplinary Teams
Clients benefit from our deep technical knowledge. Our integrated, multidisciplinary teams include patent attorneys and technical specialists with more than 100 advanced degrees in science and engineering, including 60+ Ph.D.s. We have decades of experience prosecuting strong, defensible patents that informs our work as PTAB litigators. We also leverage our experience and reputation representing both patent challengers and patent owners to develop creative arguments and offer unique insights to our clients whether you are challenging a patent’s validity or defending your patents from attack.
Our team not only understands the unique procedures involved in PTAB trials, but we have a keen understanding of the interplay between patent litigation venues. We often collaborate with our skilled trial litigators to craft PTAB case strategy that aligns with parallel district court or International Trade Commission actions, and our appellate practice has extensive experience securing wins from the PTAB at the Federal Circuit, as well as challenging rulings in instances when the Board gets it wrong.
Globally Recognized Practice
Sterne Kessler’s PTAB practice consistently garners recognition among the best in the country.
- In 2023, Sterne Kessler was named U.S. Post-Grant Firm of the Year at the 2023 Global IP Awards by leading intellectual property publications Intellectual Asset Management and World Trademark Review.
- In 2024, we were ranked in Patexia’s PTAB Intelligence report among the top 10 most active firms overall and the top 25 best performing firms overall.
- Patexia recognized nine individual Sterne Kessler attorneys among the 100 best performing PTAB practitioners in 2023 representing either petitioners or patent owners, including seven attorneys in the Top 50 and the #2 and #4 attorneys representing patent owners.
- We were named PTAB Firm of the Year three times by Managing Intellectual Property (2020, 2017, 2015), and first achieved this distinction in the inaugural year of the award.
We Wrote the Book on Patent Office Litigation
We publish our PTAB Year in Review: Analysis & Trends report, now in its 4th edition, which explores the power, resilience, and ever-evolving nature of the PTAB through a series of articles addressing the key decisions, trends, and rule changes. We also published Patent Office Litigation, Second Edition, providing a fresh and comprehensive exploration of all aspects of the contested patent proceedings before the PTAB.
PTAB Legal Experience and Advancement Program
Sterne Kessler is a proud leader in developing the next generation of legal talent to practice at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) through the PTAB’s Legal Experience and Advancement Program (LEAP). The program provide opportunities for training and development of the next generation of attorneys and patent agents. Sterne Kessler held the top position for LEAP requests during the program’s first two years, and our participation has continued since.