PTAB challenges

Proceedings overview

One AIA trial proceeding has been filed against US Patent 11923498. This proceeding, IPR2025-00389, was terminated due to settlement, meaning no claims were formally invalidated by the PTAB. For a defendant, this means the patent has not been structurally weakened by a PTAB final written decision.

IPR2025-00389 — Zhuhai CosMX Battery Co., Ltd. v. Ningde Amperex Technology Ltd.

• Type: Inter Partes Review
• Filed: 2025-01-15
• Status: Terminated-Settled. The proceeding concluded without a final written decision due to a settlement between the parties.
• Judge panel: Information regarding the specific judge panel for this IPR is not publicly available from the provided data or standard search results for this status.
• Petition grounds: Details of the specific claims challenged, the prior art asserted, and the statutory bases (§ 102 / § 103 / § 112) are typically found in the petition and institution decision, which are not directly retrievable with the provided tools for a settled case without deeper docket access.
• Institution decision: The status indicates the case was "instituted" (Pending - Instituted, as per Google Patents legal status, though the provided data gives "Terminated-Settled" as the final status). However, the specifics of the institution decision date and reasoning are not publicly detailed for a terminated-settled case without access to the PTAB E2E system.
• Final Written Decision (if issued): Not issued, as the proceeding was terminated due to settlement.
• Settlement / termination: The proceeding was terminated due to settlement. The precise date of termination, as distinct from the "last modified" date, and the specific terms of the settlement are generally confidential between the parties. The "last modified" date on the USPTO Open Data Portal for this proceeding is 2026-06-26.
• Appeal: No appeal to the Federal Circuit occurred, as there was no Final Written Decision to appeal.
• Defensive value: While an IPR was instituted against the patent, no claims were invalidated by the PTAB. This means that if a defendant challenges the patent, they would need to independently develop their own invalidity arguments, as the PTAB did not render a judgment on the merits of the challenged claims.

Strategic summary

Currently, no claims of US Patent 11923498 have been formally CANCELED by the PTAB. The single IPR proceeding, IPR2025-00389, initiated by Zhuhai CosMX Battery Co., Ltd., was terminated due to settlement. This means that all claims originally challenged in the petition remain SUSTAINED as far as PTAB adjudication is concerned, or at least, none were formally invalidated. All claims of the patent are therefore considered UNTESTED by a final PTAB decision on the merits.

Regarding the estoppel landscape, since IPR2025-00389 was terminated via settlement and not a final written decision, the statutory estoppel provisions of § 315(e)(2) may not apply in the same way they would for a FWD. However, the specific terms of the confidential settlement agreement would dictate any contractual estoppel between Zhuhai CosMX Battery Co., Ltd. (and its privies) and Ningde Amperex Technology Ltd. For other potential defendants, this IPR's termination means the prior art grounds raised (and any that reasonably could have been raised) by the petitioner are technically still available for assertion in a new IPR by a different party, provided they meet the statutory requirements. There is no clear pattern of multiple IPRs from the same petitioner or aggressive PTAB appeals by the patent owner, given only one terminated proceeding.

Recommended next steps

• Given that IPR2025-00389 was terminated due to settlement, there is no public Final Written Decision to link to or quote for claim invalidation. Any defendant facing assertion of this patent should consider the prior art landscape afresh.
• No active PTAB proceedings are currently pending for US Patent 11923498.
• The absence of adjudicated PTAB activity suggests that the patent's claims have not been subjected to the scrutiny of a full IPR trial and decision. Potential defendants should consider whether filing a new IPR petition, asserting strong prior art grounds, would be a viable defensive strategy. It's important to analyze the original petition for IPR2025-00389 (if accessible) to understand the arguments previously made and why the parties chose to settle, as this may offer insights into the patent's vulnerabilities or strengths.
• The "IPR2025-00389" proceeding is visible on the Unified Patents portal with "Pending - Instituted" status (as of filing in Google Patents metadata). However, the definitive status from the "PTAB proceedings on file" indicates "Terminated-Settled." It is crucial to obtain the termination order from the PTAB E2E portal for IPR2025-00389 to confirm the precise outcome and conditions of termination.
  [Link to USPTO PTAB E2E: (A direct link to the specific IPR's docket on PTAB E2E is not generated by this tool, but users can search for IPR2025-00389 on the PTAB E2E website.)]
  [Link to Unified Patents: https://portal.unifiedpatents.com/ptab/case/IPR2025-00389]