The Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) continues to play a central role in U.S. patent strategy. For companies facing patent disputes or protecting their portfolios, selecting the right law firm is a high-stakes decision that directly affects outcomes, costs, and long-term IP strategy.

This week, we analyze leading PTAB law firms based on activity and performance indicators. By combining filing data, case outcomes, and participation trends, this ranking provides a data-driven view of which firms are standing out in the PTAB today. Unlike simple volume rankings, this analysis looks at multiple dimensions of PTAB performance to better reflect real-world influence and effectiveness.

Recent PTAB Activity Snapshot

To frame the current PTAB landscape, we first look at overall activity across the last six years. The chart below reflects the number of PTAB cases handled during this period.

Over the past six years, PTAB filing activity has remained relatively stable, with Inter Partes Review (IPR) proceedings continuing to represent the clear majority of filings. Annual IPR volume has generally ranged between roughly 1,150 and 1,450 filings per year, demonstrating sustained reliance on PTAB challenges as a core component of patent dispute strategy. While total filings dipped slightly around 2023, activity rebounded in 2024, reinforcing the PTAB’s continued importance in parallel litigation and pre-litigation risk management. Other PTAB proceeding types represent a smaller but consistent portion of the docket, typically accounting for several dozen to under one hundred filings annually. This level of consistency suggests that PTAB strategy has matured into a standard defensive and offensive tool across many technology-driven sectors where patent disputes remain frequent and high-value.

These high-level trends represent only a portion of the broader PTAB landscape. The Patexia PTAB Intelligence Report expands on these insights with detailed statistics covering filing trends, outcomes, technologies, participation patterns, and performance benchmarks across companies, law firms, and attorneys, providing a thorough view of the PTAB ecosystem.

Top PTAB Law Firms by Activity and Performance

While overall PTAB filing volume provides important context for market demand, it does not tell the full story. The key question for companies and stakeholders is not only how many cases are filed, but which firms are trusted to handle them and how effectively they perform once engaged.

To address this, the PTAB Intelligence Report analyzes PTAB law firm activity and outcomes over the last five years, identifying firms that consistently appear in a high volume of proceedings while also demonstrating strong performance indicators. The table below highlights a selection of leading PTAB law firms based on a combination of activity and performance metrics, on the patent owner side, petitoner or both. These firms handle a significant share of proceedings while maintaining strong results across multiple stages of a case.

Being ranked in the top 120 places a firm within approximately the top 15% of all law firms that participated in PTAB proceedings during the study period, which spans from July 1, 2020, through June 30, 2025.

Law Firm	All Cases	Patent Owner Cases	Petitioner Cases	Rank	Category
Baker Botts LLP	305	91	215	1	Petitioner Performance Rank
Bunsow De Mory	80	80	0	1	Overall Performance Rank
McKool Smith	296	250	47	2	PO Activity Rank
Haynes and Boone, LLP	295	50	245	2	Petitioner Performance Rank
Smith Baluch	56	8	48	2	Overall Performance Rank
Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan	301	101	200	4	PO Performance Rank
Armond Wilson LLP	37	19	18	4	Overall Performance Rank
Sterne, Kessler, Goldstein & Fox	330	204	126	4	PO Activity Rank
Paul Hastings	256	35	222	5	Petitioner Activity Rank
Norton Rose Fulbright	122	47	75	5	Petitioner Performance Rank
Lowenstein & Weatherwax	165	165	0	6	PO Activity Rank
Wolf, Greenfield & Sacks	196	65	138	7	Petitioner Performance Rank
DLA Piper	201	22	179	8	Petitioner Performance Rank
Erise IP	198	18	180	8	Petitioner Activity Rank
Maschoff Brennan Gilmore Israelsen & Mauriel LLP	47	33	14	9	Overall Performance Rank
Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo, P.C.	118	100	18	12	PO Activity Rank
Heim, Payne & Chorush LLP	78	70	8	14	PO Performance Rank
Alston & Bird	204	92	113	15	Overall Activity Rank
Cabello Hall Zinda	50	43	7	18	Overall Performance Rank
Greenberg Traurig LLP	137	34	103	21	Petitioner Activity Rank
Alberti Lim & Tonkovich LLP	80	80	0	27	PO Activity Rank
Caldwell Cassady & Curry	48	48	0	34	PO Performance Rank
McDermott Will & Emery	74	32	42	41	Petitioner Activity Rank
Lee & Hayes	25	12	13	53	Overall Performance Rank
PV Law LLP	53	26	27	65	Petitioner Activity Rank
Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton	5	4	1	118	PO Performance Rank

Methodology Overview

Focusing on a five-year window helps balance long-term reputation with current market presence. PTAB practice evolves quickly, driven by shifts in filing strategies, changes in patent litigation trends, and evolving case law, making recency an important signal when evaluating firm activity. This ranking is based on PTAB proceedings handled over the last five years and incorporates multiple dimensions of firm participation and performance.

Key factors considered include:

● Total number of PTAB proceedings handled
● Case outcomes
● Consistency of activity over time

By combining activity and performance indicators, this approach provides a more complete picture of PTAB influence compared to rankings based solely on case volume. For a detailed explanation of our methodology, including ranking criteria, performance factors, and normalization techniques, visit our online methodology guide.

About the PTAB Intelligence Report

This analysis is part of Patexia’s PTAB Intelligence Report, which provides comprehensive data and rankings across companies, law firms, and attorneys involved in PTAB proceedings.

The report offers deeper insights into:

● Activity trends across preceding types
● Performance benchmarking across market participants
● Longitudinal analysis of PTAB strategy and outcomes
● Detailed firm and attorney-level intelligence

For organizations actively engaged in patent disputes or portfolio strategy, these insights help support data-driven decision-making when selecting counsel or evaluating competitive positioning. Law firms and PTAB attorneys also rely on this data to benchmark their activity, measure performance against peers, and identify trends in how leading companies approach PTAB strategy. To explore the full dataset, detailed rankings, and deeper performance insights, access the full PTAB Intelligence Report.

Stay tuned as in the following weeks, we will also highlight the top PTAB attorneys and their performance trends.