Agenda
Subject to change. CLE panels are designated by an asterisk after the panel title.
Thursday, Jan 29, 2026
8:30 AM ET
9:00 AM ET
Keynote Chat
We are honored to have Coke Stewart, Deputy Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), join us for a keynote conversation to kickoff our PTAB Masters™ 2026 program. Stewart recently served as Acting USPTO Director, a role she assumed in January 2025 and held until the confirmation of Director John Squires on September 18, 2025. She previously…
Gene Quinn
Coke Morgan Stewart
We are honored to have Coke Stewart, Deputy Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), join us for a keynote conversation to kickoff our PTAB Masters™ 2026 program. Stewart recently served as Acting USPTO Director, a role she assumed in January 2025 and held until the confirmation of Director John Squires on September 18, 2025. She previously…
,10:15 AM ET
The Evolving PTAB Landscape: Inside Efforts to Recalibrate AIA Trials
The Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) is undergoing a fundamental reset, which started in earnest once then Acting USPTO Director Coke Stewart took the helm, and has continued now that USPTO Director John Squires has been confirmed and assumed control of the agency. This panel will cuts through the noise and zero in on how AIA trials are being…
Teresa Rea
Richard Torczon
The Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) is undergoing a fundamental reset, which started in earnest once then Acting USPTO Director Coke Stewart took the helm, and has continued now that USPTO Director John Squires has been confirmed and assumed control of the agency. This panel will cuts through the noise and zero in on how AIA trials are being…
,11:10 AM ET
11:30 AM ET
Capitol Hill & PTAB Politics: Innovation Policy, Congressional Oversight and Mid-term Elections
The PTAB is being fundamentally realigned, but is this what Congress intended when it passed the America Invents Act (AIA) in 2011? While the AIA gives the USPTO Director nearly unfettered, non-appealable discretion when deciding whether or not to institute an AIA trial proceeding, there are some in Congress that have balked at the notion that petitioners do not have…
Hon. Paul R. Michel
Brad Watts
The PTAB is being fundamentally realigned, but is this what Congress intended when it passed the America Invents Act (AIA) in 2011? While the AIA gives the USPTO Director nearly unfettered, non-appealable discretion when deciding whether or not to institute an AIA trial proceeding, there are some in Congress that have balked at the notion that petitioners do not have…
,1:20 PM ET
IPR on Life Support: Petitioner Perspectives on the New PTAB Landscape
The pendulum at the PTAB has swung hard, and petitioners are feeling the squeeze. With discretionary denials expanding, serial-challenge limits tightening, and policy shifts favoring patent owners, the IPR process is looking less predictable—and in some cases, barely viable for at least some petitioners. This session delivers an unfiltered petitioner-side assessment of the new PTAB reality. We will dig into…
Scott Jarratt
Tim Jezek
The pendulum at the PTAB has swung hard, and petitioners are feeling the squeeze. With discretionary denials expanding, serial-challenge limits tightening, and policy shifts favoring patent owners, the IPR process is looking less predictable—and in some cases, barely viable for at least some petitioners. This session delivers an unfiltered petitioner-side assessment of the new PTAB reality. We will dig into…
,2:35 PM ET
Winning AIA Trials: How Patent Owners Can Leverage the Current Pro-Patent Environment
For the first time in years, the PTAB winds are blowing squarely in favor of patent owners—and smart teams are capitalizing. This session cuts to the chase on how to leverage today’s pro-patent environment to win AIA trials outright or shut them down before they start. From aggressive discretionary-denial practice to a more receptive Board on merits, the landscape has…
Richard Kim
Brian Landry
Stephen T. Schreiner
For the first time in years, the PTAB winds are blowing squarely in favor of patent owners—and smart teams are capitalizing. This session cuts to the chase on how to leverage today’s pro-patent environment to win AIA trials outright or shut them down before they start. From aggressive discretionary-denial practice to a more receptive Board on merits, the landscape has…
,3:50 PM ET
Open Season in Texas: Litigation & Licensing Free of PTAB Threat
With the PTAB losing altitude and discretionary denial becoming the norm, Texas has once again become the premier venue for patent owners who want real leverage. This session drills into why district-court litigation and licensing campaigns are increasingly operating with minimal PTAB drag, giving patent owners cleaner paths to pressure alleged infringers, faster timelines, and stronger settlement dynamics. We will…
Salumeh Ramsay
With the PTAB losing altitude and discretionary denial becoming the norm, Texas has once again become the premier venue for patent owners who want real leverage. This session drills into why district-court litigation and licensing campaigns are increasingly operating with minimal PTAB drag, giving patent owners cleaner paths to pressure alleged infringers, faster timelines, and stronger settlement dynamics. We will…
,5:05 PM ET
CAFC Review of the PTAB: Mandamus, Recent Rulings, Emerging Trends
This panel will deliver an unfiltered look at Federal Circuit review of PTAB decisions. We will focus on how mandamus petitions, recent precedential decisions, and emerging appellate trends are redefining the PTAB—and forcing the USPTO to recalibrate on the fly. We will walk through the surge in mandamus challenges targeting discretionary denial and examine Federal Circuit decisions to date on…
Tim Fink
Michael Rosato
This panel will deliver an unfiltered look at Federal Circuit review of PTAB decisions. We will focus on how mandamus petitions, recent precedential decisions, and emerging appellate trends are redefining the PTAB—and forcing the USPTO to recalibrate on the fly. We will walk through the surge in mandamus challenges targeting discretionary denial and examine Federal Circuit decisions to date on…
,Friday, Jan 30, 2026
9:00 AM ET
The New PTAB Playbook: Using PGR and Reexamination as Alternatives to IPR
With IPRs becoming harder to win and increasingly vulnerable to discretionary denial, defendants are being forced to rethink their entire PTAB playbook. This session cuts straight to the emerging alternatives—PGR, ex parte reexamination, and other underutilized tools that are rapidly becoming essential parts of a modern defense strategy. We’ll break down when PGR truly gives defendants an edge, how reexamination…
Scott McKeown
With IPRs becoming harder to win and increasingly vulnerable to discretionary denial, defendants are being forced to rethink their entire PTAB playbook. This session cuts straight to the emerging alternatives—PGR, ex parte reexamination, and other underutilized tools that are rapidly becoming essential parts of a modern defense strategy. We’ll break down when PGR truly gives defendants an edge, how reexamination…
,10:15 AM ET
One-and-Done: How a Single-Shot IPR Regime Will Reshape Patent Strategy
This panel will focus will be the proposed “one-and-done” rule, which seeks to make IPRs a single, non-repeatable challenge to patent validity. Panelists will discuss the public comments received and discuss what the USPTO is likely to do moving forward with respect to implementation of the rules package. We will explore what adoption of the one-and-done rule would mean functionally…
Peter Sullivan
This panel will focus will be the proposed “one-and-done” rule, which seeks to make IPRs a single, non-repeatable challenge to patent validity. Panelists will discuss the public comments received and discuss what the USPTO is likely to do moving forward with respect to implementation of the rules package. We will explore what adoption of the one-and-done rule would mean functionally…
,11:10 AM ET
11:30 AM ET
1:20 PM ET
2:35 PM ET
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