PTAB challenges

Proceedings overview

There is one AIA trial proceeding on file for US patent 11036371, which is currently active. The patent's claims remain untested by a final written decision, indicating that the patent has not yet been challenged to invalidation at the PTAB.

IPR2026-00249 — Meta Platforms, Inc. v. COGMEDIA LLC

• Type: Inter Partes Review
• Filed: 2026-03-18
• Status: Pending - The case has been filed and is awaiting an institution decision.
• Judge panel: Pending Judge Assignment
• Petition grounds: The petition challenges U.S. Patent No. 11,036,371. The specific claims challenged and statutory bases (§ 102 / § 103 / § 112) are not yet public, but the Petitioner has submitted prior art including U.S. Patent No. 7,310,612 to McQueen, III et al., U.S. Pre-grant Publication No. 2002/0069105 to do Rosario Botelho et al., U.S. Patent No. 7,293,074 to Jellinek et al., and U.S. Pre-grant Publication No. 2002/0091775 to Morehead et al.
• Institution decision: Not yet issued. The institution decision is pending.
• Final Written Decision (if issued): Not yet issued.
• Settlement / termination: No settlement or termination has been reported.
• Appeal: No appeal has been filed as a Final Written Decision has not yet been issued.
• Defensive value: This is an active IPR, meaning the validity of the patent is currently under review. For a defendant, this proceeding introduces uncertainty regarding the patent's claims. If the IPR is instituted and ultimately results in invalidated claims, it would significantly weaken any assertion built upon those claims. Conversely, if institution is denied or the claims are upheld, it could strengthen the patent owner's position.

Strategic summary

Currently, all claims of US patent 11036371 are UNTESTED by a Final Written Decision at the PTAB. The sole IPR proceeding, IPR2026-00249, is still in its early stages, with an institution decision pending. Therefore, there are no claims that have been CANCELED or SUSTAINED through PTAB trials.

Regarding the estoppel landscape, since IPR2026-00249 is ongoing, the full scope of prior-art grounds raised (or reasonably could have been raised) by Meta Platforms, Inc. will be subject to § 315(e)(2) estoppel upon the issuance of a Final Written Decision. For other defendants facing assertion of this patent, prior art grounds not included in Meta's petition or not reasonably discoverable by Meta would generally still be available for a new IPR petition.

At this time, there are no clear pattern signals of aggressive PTAB appeals by the patent owner or multiple IPRs from the same petitioner. Unified Patents is listed as the petitioner in the "PTAB proceedings on file" section of the prompt, but the detailed docket alarm link states the petitioner is Meta Platforms, Inc.. I will proceed with Meta Platforms, Inc. as the petitioner for this analysis.

Recommended next steps

The IPR2026-00249 proceeding is pending an institution decision. The PTAB has a statutory one-year deadline from institution to issue a Final Written Decision. Keep a close watch on the institution decision, as it will determine whether the IPR moves forward to a full trial. The institution decision will outline which claims, if any, the PTAB believes Meta Platforms, Inc. has demonstrated a reasonable likelihood of proving unpatentable. Monitoring the public docket for IPR2026-00249 on the USPTO PTAB E2E system (accessible via the USPTO Open Data Portal) for updates on the institution decision and subsequent trial-stage milestones is crucial.