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In September through November, the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit issued 34 total opinions in appeals from post-grant proceedings at the PTAB (all of which were IPRs). In September, the Federal Circuit affirmed the PTAB on every issue in 6 cases (60%). The court issued a mixed outcome in 3 cases (30%), including a precedential opinion in Bayer Pharma Aktiengesellschaft v. Mylan Pharmaceuticals Inc. (No. 23-2434). The Court issued 1 dismissal (10%) on substantive (e.g., non-settlement) grounds and did not issue any opinions in which all issues were reversed or vacated.
In October, a relatively favorable month for appellees compared to historical trends, the Federal Circuit affirmed the PTAB on every issue in 13 cases (81.25%), including in precedential opinions in Causam Enterprises, Inc. v. Ecobee Technologies ULC (No. 24-1958) and Merck Serono S.A. v. Hopewell Pharma Ventures, Inc. (No. 25-1210). The court issued 1 opinion (6.25%) where every issue was vacated and remanded, which is a precedential opinion in Centripetal Networks LLC v. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (No. 23-2027); and issued a mixed outcome in 2 appeals (12.50%). The court did not dismiss any opinions on substantive grounds.
In November, the Federal Circuit affirmed the PTAB on every issue in 6 cases (75%). The court issued 2 opinions in which every issue was reversed or vacated (25%) and did not issue any opinions with mixed outcomes or dismissals on substantive grounds.
Through November 30, 2025, the Federal Circuit cumulatively decided 1,531 appeals from the PTAB in IPRs, CBMs, and PGRs. While the vast majority of these appeals came from IPR proceedings, the number of PGR appeals has slowly increased over time, though no new PGR appellate opinions were issued in the September-November timeframe.
In IPR appeals, the Federal Circuit has cumulatively affirmed the PTAB on every issue in 1084 cases (74.86%) and reversed or vacated the PTAB on every issue in 174 cases (12.02%). A mixed outcome on appeal occurred in 148 cases (10.22%), and the court dismissed 42 IPR appeals (2.90%) without rendering a decision on the merits.
In PGR appeals, the Federal Circuit cumulatively affirmed the PTAB on every issue in 19 cases (65.52%), issued a mixed outcome in 3 cases (10.34%), reversed or vacated every issue in 6 cases (20.69%), and dismissed 1 (3.45%) appeal on substantive (e.g., non-settlement) grounds. These numbers are unchanged since August.
Taken together, in decisions for IPR, CBM, and PGR appeals, the Federal Circuit affirmed every issue in 1,144 cases (74.72%), issued a mixed outcome in 155 cases (10.12%), reversed or vacated every issue in 185 cases (12.08%), and dismissed 47 cases (3.07%) on substantive grounds.
Of the 1,531 IPR, CBM, and PGR cumulative appeals that it has considered, the Federal Circuit issued Rule 36 affirmances in 634 cases (41.41%). The court issued written opinions, including affirmances, reversals, dismissals, and mixed decisions, in 897 cases (58.59%). The ratio of Rule 36 affirmances to written decisions has generally trended downward over time and further declined through the September-November period.
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