
"Exceptional" IPRs And § 285, PTAB Litigation Blog
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Inter partes review ("IPR") proceedings often arise in the context of high-stakes patent infringement litigation, and district courts frequently stay litigation pending parallel IPRs, which may fully resolve a patent-in-suit’s validity. Accordingly, district courts are starting to recognize deeper nuances of how IPRs impact co-pending litigation, not only with respect to substantive validity issues, but also the way parties have litigated their claims, including whether a losing party’s conduct in IPR can support an "exceptional case" finding under 35 U.S.C. § 285 to support an award of attorney fees.