Sources familiar with operations at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) have told IPWatchdog that Director John Squires has informed the Administrative Patent Judges on the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) that he will be relinquishing decision-making authority on which patent challenges to institute, returning the decision to the PTAB, Gene Quinn reported on September 16, 2026. The consequential developments appear to be part of a deliberate repositioning of PTAB oversight ahead of an upcoming oversight hearing, which — although not officially announced — is believed to be scheduled for September 29, 2026.

In October 2025, Squires announced that he would personally decide whether America Invents Act (AIA) trial proceedings should be instituted, after consulting with PTAB judges — a change the USPTO described as returning the institution function to the Director. That followed reforms introduced by then-Acting Director Coke Stewart, who in March 2025 launched the interim PTAB Workload Management process and the 'settled expectations' doctrine to rebalance institution decisions. At the time, Squires explained that while delegating institution decisions to PTAB judges was practical immediately after the AIA's passage, reclaiming that authority would let him align the administration of inter partes reviews with the letter and spirit of the law.

What is clear is that institution rates are already climbing. According to USPTO data, 40% of petitioners were instituted through the first 11 months of FY 2026, with 356 institutions and 545 denials — significantly lower than FY 2025's 50% institution rate (616 instituted, 616 denied) and well below FY 2024's 68% (740 instituted, 347 denied). Measured by petition, the rate stood at 38% through the first three quarters of FY 2026 (314 instituted, 509 denied). But comparing July and August 2026 with the numbers reported through June, the rate ticked up: 42 petitions were instituted and 36 denied in July and August, a 54% institution rate for that two-month span.

Whether Squires will still make final institution decisions, whether decision-making will revert to individual panels as in previous years, and when any new process will officially take effect remain unknown, as does whether the shift is a policy course correction or a response to immediate oversight pressure. For patent owners who favored tighter limits on PTAB review, centralization in the Director's office was a welcome change; if the reported reversal is accurate — multiple sources say the PTAB has already been informed — the agency would be reversing course in less than one year, and there is concern the institution rate will only accelerate. IPWatchdog also learned that Squires is loosening other PTAB requirements, including permitting PTAB judges to telework full time, a developing story the outlet says it will continue to follow.

Original Link: https://ipwatchdog.com/2026/09/16/uspto-pivot-ptab-oversight-raises-questions-about-ptab-control/