Ex Parte Appeal Statistics

From April 8, 2026, USPTO Hour: Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) updates and priorities

On April 8, 2026 the USPTO published Ex parte appeal statistics from September 30, 2012, through March 31, 2026. Over this time period, total inventory of pending appeals has dropped from 26,570 to 1,866. Critically, for Appellants, this means the pendency of appeals has dropped from an average of over 28 months for the quarter ending in March 2025 to under 8 months for the quarter ending in March 2026. Over the same period, total appeals filed has only dropped slightly, from 1,974 for the fiscal year ending in March 2025 to 1,648 for the fiscal year ending in March of 2026.

Part of this reduction in inventory and pendency is likely due to the large increase in institution denials of inter partes review over the last year. Further, the number of petitions being filed has also dropped from around 140 in January of 2025 to fewer than 40 in February of 2026. These two factors compound to result in more PTAB bandwidth to handle appeals, benefiting applicants.