The number of cases in which Patent Trial and Appeal Board judges have used their discretion to deny reviews dropped dramatically after the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office director released new limitations in June, but attorneys say the adaptations they made to avoid such denials are going to stick around. The number of denials under Section 314(a) of the Patent Act — largely based on the status of parallel litigation in precedent called Fintiv — dropped to just one over the third quarter of 2022, down from 60 over the first quarter of 2021, when the director who spearheaded those denials left. "We had a time period where Fintiv denials were very prevalent, and now we're going back to panels being more hesitant in light of the director's guidance," said IP Litigation partner Linnea Cipriano to Law360. "I think, ultimately, we'll reach a happy medium where Fintiv has a role in preventing truly duplicative efforts, but it's seen through a real-world lens."