Fish & Richardson Named #1 PTAB Law Firm in the U.S. for 2014 by Managing Intellectual Property

Fish & Richardson has been named the #1 most active law firm at the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) for 2014. Fish represented clients in 154 proceedings - more than any other firm - and also ranked as the most active firm representing petitioners at the PTAB.

The analysis, conducted by Managing Intellectual Property (MIP) magazine, noted that 2014 was "by far" the record year for filings at the PTAB, with 1,677 inter partes review, covered business method review, and post-grant review petitions listed in the Docket Navigator database between January 1, 2014 and December 31, 2014.

"Fish brings a potent combination of technical know-how, patent prosecution skills, and litigation savvy to the PTAB," said Karl Renner, co-chair of Fish & Richardson's Post-Grant Practice Group. "Post-grant proceedings are truly hybrids, which is why we have created interdisciplinary teams to handle these nuanced matters. Each team includes both experienced patent practitioners and seasoned litigators. Our ability to draw upon Fish's deep expertise in both patent prosecution and litigation is what differentiates us from other firms that do post-grant work, and what makes the firm successful."

One of the fastest-growing areas of patent law, post-grant proceedings are mechanisms for challenging the validity of patent claims before the PTAB at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), and are often used as an alternative to traditional patent litigation, or as a strategic tool alongside patent litigation.

In April 2014, Fish launched a free mobile app that focuses on post-grant proceedings. The app provides a comprehensive range of resources for practitioners including descriptions and comparisons of each proceeding, free replays of webinars from the firm's Post-Grant for Practitioners webinar series, and daily updates on newly filed petitions and decisions of note. Fish is the first and only firm to provide this information in this form. Fish also has a dedicated post-grant website and offers frequent webinars and seminars on a range of post-grant topics.

Founded in 1990, MIP is an international magazine for in-house IP counsel and a leading source of news and analysis on all IP developments worldwide. This is the first year that MIP has ranked the leading PTAB law firms as part of its annual international IP survey. MIP used Docket Navigator to conduct an analysis of PTAB petitions filed in 2014 to reveal the most-active companies and people at the PTAB.