Reexam Data Playbook

Issued isn’t the same as proven.

A patent issuing from the USPTO tells your client it exists. It doesn’t tell you it will survive a second look. The Reexam Risk Playbook shows you how to read what an ex parte reexamination did to a patent’s claims, and what that means before you rely on one, license it, or challenge it.

Across every ex parte reexamination certificate issued since 2000, only 39% of challenged claims came out confirmed as issued. 31% were cancelled outright. The rest survived only after amendment, or as dependents of amended claims. “Issued” and “survived a challenge” are different signals, and the gap between them is where patent validity risk hides.

That gap matters more now that the two post-grant paths have split. In fiscal 2025 the PTAB instituted just 50% of inter partes review petitions, a five-year low. Ex parte reexamination ran the other way: ordered more than 90% of the time. Challengers are following the odds, and more of your clients’ patents will draw a reexam request.

What’s inside:

• The five claim outcomes a reexamination certificate can produce, and what each one does to a patent’s value.
• How to read the proceeding record and the prosecution history behind it together, including when a patent is challenged on a ground it already survived.
• How to use claim-survival base rates by technology, examiner, firm, and owner to price an untested patent, set a licensing fee, or decide whether to request a reexam yourself.
• The timeline and the odds to give a client before anyone pays a filing fee.

Who it’s for: Patent attorneys and agents weighing patent validity before relying on or challenging a patent. Licensing and litigation teams who need a defensible read on what actually survived.

Built on Juristat’s USPTO data: 10M+ applications, 20,000+ examiners, and 20+ years of prosecution history. Every ex parte reexamination requested since 2000, tied to the prosecution record underneath it.