Survey: In-house counsel on the US patent landscape

Managing IP is part of Legal Benchmarking Limited, 1-2 Paris Gardens, London, SE1 8ND

Copyright © Legal Benchmarking Limited and its affiliated companies 2025

Accessibility | Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Modern Slavery Statement

Survey: In-house counsel on the US patent landscape

surveyfinalcover.jpg

Fifty four in-house counsel took our survey on how the US patent pendulum has moved and how the courts and the USPTO have changed

Change to the US patent landscape has been controversial. What one lawyer thinks is a common-sense measure to cut down on bad patents, another might consider a disaster designed to kill innovation in an industry.

As IP in-house counsel consider how legislative reforms, courts conducting hearings remotely because of COVID-19, and the 2020 presidential elections will affect their IP strategies, we wanted to understand how they felt about the state of the US patent landscape.

The 54 in-house lawyers who took our survey weighed in on Andrei Iancu’s appointment to director of the USPTO, the PTAB and where the patent pendulum is swinging.

Section one: Broad concerns

In part one, more lawyers thought President Donald Trump’s views on IP were better for their business than those of the Democratic Party’s Joe Biden, but the majority of respondents said either that they ‘didn’t know’ whose IP views among the two men would be better for their businesses or that neither’s were. And while most counsel said the US is not too patent friendly, they were divided on how the pendulum is swinging. Read more here.

Section two: The courts

In part two, respondents said that they wanted to see more remote hearings in the future and that Delaware was their preferred court to litigate in. Read more here.

Section three: The USPTO

In part three, a large majority of respondents said director Iancu was doing a good job, but there was no clear consensus on the PTAB. Read more here.



more from across site and SHARED ros bottom lb

More from across our site

Jorg Thomaier, who has been head of IP at the German pharma company since 2010, will leave later this year and hand the reins to the company’s head of patents
Why companies must conduct thorough IP due diligence – even if it may not be mandatory
Celia Cheah at Wong & Partners in Malaysia says she is aiming to tap into the Baker McKenzie member firm’s international network and expand its IP portfolio
A team of partners that joined Boies Schiller Flexner say they would like to double the firm’s patent litigation capabilities
Iris Quadrio at Marval O’Farrell & Mairal discusses mentors, volunteering, and leadership in our latest interview to mark women leaders in IP
Abigail Struthers discusses why law firms are like a mix of small businesses and explains why hopeful patent lawyers should not assume that a science degree is essential
We review the latest batch of IP STARS rankings, analyse a major law firm collaboration following the opening of India’s legal market, and look at why Canadian brands are promoting ‘Canadianness’
Counsel explain how the USPTO’s decision to discretionarily deny institution of a PTAB case affects their advice to clients
The Life Sciences Awards announces the winners for the 6th annual awards
The UPC’s plans to roll out its new Case Management System and a setback for TikTok in India were also among the top talking points
Gift this article