PTAB challenges

Proceedings overview

US patent 11575148 has been subject to one AIA trial proceeding. This proceeding, IPR2025-00432, was terminated due to settlement. As no final written decision on the merits was issued, the claims of the patent remain untested by the PTAB. This means the patent's claims are currently hardened against prior art challenges that would have been litigated in this specific IPR, but the door is open for other parties to challenge them.

IPR2025-00432 — Zhuhai CosMX Battery Co., Ltd. v. Ningde Amperex Technology Ltd.

• Type: Inter Partes Review
• Filed: 2025-01-10
• Status: Terminated-Settled – The proceeding concluded without a final decision on the merits due to a settlement between the parties.
• Judge panel: Not publicly available due to termination before final decision.
• Petition grounds: The petition challenged claims 1-20 of US Patent No. 11,575,148 B2 as unpatentable under 35 U.S.C. §§ 102 and/or 103.
• Institution decision: Instituted on 2025-07-25. The PTAB instituted review on claims 1-20 based on various combinations of prior art references including US 2017/0077583 A1 (Wu), US 2017/0346141 A1 (Sun), and US 2017/0125740 A1 (Lee).
• Final Written Decision (if issued): Not applicable, as the proceeding was terminated due to settlement.
• Settlement / termination: The proceeding was terminated-settled on 2026-06-26. The specific terms of the settlement are confidential.
• Appeal: Not applicable, as no Final Written Decision was issued for appeal.
• Defensive value: This IPR did not result in any claims being invalidated. While the institution showed the PTAB found a reasonable likelihood of unpatentability for claims 1-20, the settlement means these claims were not formally canceled. A defendant is not estopped by this IPR and can still pursue challenges to the patent based on the same or different prior art.

Strategic summary

Currently, all claims (1-20) of US patent 11575148 remain UNTESTED by a Final Written Decision at the PTAB, as the sole IPR (IPR2025-00432) targeting them was terminated due to settlement. The patent has not been narrowed through IPR. The institution of IPR2025-00432, however, indicates that the PTAB found sufficient merit in the petitioner's prior art arguments to proceed with a full review of claims 1-20.

Regarding the estoppel landscape, since IPR2025-00432 was terminated by settlement, neither the petitioner (Zhuhai CosMX Battery Co., Ltd.) nor its privies are estopped under 35 U.S.C. § 315(e)(2) from raising invalidity grounds that were raised or could have been raised in the IPR. Generally, settlement agreements define the specific estoppel terms between the settling parties, which are usually confidential. For any other defendant facing assertion of this patent, all prior-art grounds remain available, as there is no public record of claims being deemed patentable or unpatentable in a FWD.

There isn't a clear pattern signal of aggressive PTAB appeals by the patent owner or multiple IPR filings by the same petitioner, as only one IPR was filed and it settled. The petitioner, Zhuhai CosMX Battery Co., Ltd., does not immediately appear to be a defensive aggregator like Unified Patents based on this single filing.

Recommended next steps

• Since IPR2025-00432 settled, the claims (1-20) of US11575148 have not been formally adjudicated by the PTAB. Any defendant being asserted against should review the institution decision for IPR2025-00432 to understand the PTAB's initial assessment of the unpatentability arguments for claims 1-20. The institution decision is available on the USPTO PTAB E2E system by searching for IPR2025-00432.
• Consider filing a new IPR petition if facing assertion, as the claims remain untested by a Final Written Decision and a prior institution decision suggests potential weaknesses. The prior art used in IPR2025-00432 (Wu, Sun, Lee) may offer a strong starting point for new challenges.
• Conduct a thorough prior art search to identify any additional art not considered in the instituted IPR, potentially strengthening a new petition.
• If you are Zhuhai CosMX Battery Co., Ltd. or a privy, consult the specific terms of the confidential settlement agreement to understand your estoppel obligations regarding future challenges to US11575148.