The 2025 filing year for Inter Partes Reviews finished September 30, 2025. The data suggest that Proceedings for Inter Partes Reviews may have arrived in their proper place.

Back in 2012…

When the Inter Partes Review process began in 2012, the idea was to provide tech companies with a quick, simple process to invalidate patents of others, namely patent trolls. The open question appeared: how might these be applied to the PIV Market?

The Enthusiasm was Contagious…

Some generic manufacturers – and others – enthusiastically employed the IPR process to invalidate brand patents, often while their own PIV cases were pending. Peaking in 2015, there were 137 IPR Petitions filed in the PIV Market, followed up in 2016 by 109 petitions.

…but the Enthusiasm did not Last

However, over a few years, the IPR proved to be a poor method of invalidating patents. Between denying Institution and deciding a patent’s claims were indeed patentable, the Patent Trial and Appeal Board invalided patent claims only 1 out of 5 times – 20%. This fact may suggest why there were only 2 petitions filed in 2021.

The IPR has Found its Parking Spot

Post-Covid, the dust settled on the question of how often a generic company ought to use the IPR. In 2025, generic companies filed 15 Petitions for Inter Partes Review, a number similar to the annual totals after 2022. Indeed, it seems the PIV Market has corrected itself in terms of the number of IPR’s filed.

The IPR can be a useful tool for a generic company. For the right patent and claim, the IPR remains a simple and efficient method to seek invalidation. However, the PIV Market strongly urges its participants to use it sparingly.