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 cut through the noise and zero in on how AIA trials are being recalibrated during President Trump’s second term. From policy pivots to the current wave of reforms taking shape under Director Squires, we will explain what statistics show is happening today, the operational shifts and new PTAB leadership, the evolving standards governing institution of inter partes review (IPR) petitions, and the practical implications for petitioners and patent owners. We will discuss the latest designated precedential opinions, informative decisions, and Director Review rulings that are resetting expectations for petitioners and patent owners. From our PTAB Masters program January 29-30, 2026. NO CLE for watching this broadcast. CLE was available only for contemporaneous, live viewing on Zoom at the time of the panel. Moderator: Todd Walters, Chair, Patent Office Litigation Practice, Buchanan https://ipwatchdog.com/ptab-masters-2... Panelists: Teresa Rea, Former Acting Director USPTO https://ipwatchdog.com/ptab-masters-2... Scott Boalick, Chief Judge, PTAB (retired) https://ipwatchdog.com/ptab-masters-2... Michael Tierney, Vice-Chief Judge, PTAB (retired) https://ipwatchdog.com/ptab-masters-2... Jacqueline Wright Bonilla, Former Deputy Chief Judge, PTAB https://ipwatchdog.com/ptab-masters-2...