PTAB challenges

Proceedings overview

There are two AIA trial proceedings on file for US patent 12143424, both of which are currently active and pending institution decisions. Both are Inter Partes Reviews (IPRs) challenged by different petitioners. Given their pending status, no claims have been invalidated or sustained, and no settlements or institution denials have occurred yet. This early stage means the patent's claims remain untested by PTAB final decisions, and its defensive posture is currently neutral pending the outcome of these challenges.

IPR2026-00363 — Palo Alto Networks, Inc. v. Qomplx Inc

• Type: Inter Partes Review
• Filed: 2026-05-15
• Status: Pending. This proceeding is active and awaiting a decision on institution by the PTAB.
• Judge panel: Information regarding the assigned judge panel is not yet publicly available.
• Petition grounds: Details regarding the specific claims challenged, prior art cited, and statutory bases (§ 102 / § 103 / § 112) are typically disclosed in the public petition document, but precise details are not readily available at this stage in public aggregate data. I will attempt to search for this.
• Institution decision: Not yet issued. The statutory deadline for the institution decision is approximately six months from the filing date, around 2026-11-15.
• Final Written Decision: Not applicable; an institution decision has not yet been rendered.
• Settlement / termination: Not applicable; the proceeding is in its early stages.
• Appeal: Not applicable.
• Defensive value: This IPR is too early in its lifecycle to offer any specific defensive value. The mere filing of a petition indicates a challenge, but no claims have been addressed yet.

IPR2026-00298 — Microsoft Corporation v. Qomplx Inc

• Type: Inter Partes Review
• Filed: 2026-03-18
• Status: Pending. This proceeding is active and awaiting a decision on institution by the PTAB.
• Judge panel: Information regarding the assigned judge panel is not yet publicly available.
• Petition grounds: Details regarding the specific claims challenged, prior art cited, and statutory bases (§ 102 / § 103 / § 112) are typically disclosed in the public petition document, but precise details are not readily available at this stage in public aggregate data. I will attempt to search for this.
• Institution decision: Not yet issued. The statutory deadline for the institution decision is approximately six months from the filing date, around 2026-09-18.
• Final Written Decision: Not applicable; an institution decision has not yet been rendered.
• Settlement / termination: Not applicable; the proceeding is in its early stages.
• Appeal: Not applicable.
• Defensive value: This IPR is too early in its lifecycle to offer any specific defensive value. The mere filing of a petition indicates a challenge, but no claims have been addressed yet.

Strategic summary

As of May 29, 2026, both IPR2026-00363 and IPR2026-00298 are in the pre-institution phase. This means that all claims of US12143424 remain UNTESTED by a PTAB final written decision. Neither proceeding has progressed to a point where claims could be canceled or sustained, and therefore, the patent has not yet been narrowed through IPR. The patent owner, Qomplx Inc, is currently defending against these challenges.

Regarding the estoppel landscape, since neither IPR has reached institution, there are no institution decisions that would trigger estoppel under 35 U.S.C. § 315(e)(1) or (e)(2) for either petitioner (Palo Alto Networks, Inc. or Microsoft Corporation) or their privies. If either IPR is instituted, and then proceeds to a final written decision, estoppel would apply to claims and grounds that were litigated or reasonably could have been litigated. Until then, most prior art grounds generally remain available to other potential challengers.

There are no clear pattern signals yet beyond the fact that two separate entities have chosen to challenge the patent through IPRs. Neither petitioner has filed multiple IPRs on this specific patent to date, and the proceedings are too early to observe any aggressive PTAB appeal strategies by the patent owner. The presence of Microsoft Corporation and Palo Alto Networks, Inc. as petitioners suggests potential interest from major technology companies, which can sometimes indicate a patent of strategic importance or one being actively asserted.

Recommended next steps

Since both IPR2026-00363 and IPR2026-00298 are pending, a defendant facing assertion of US12143424 should closely monitor their progress.

• IPR2026-00298 (Microsoft Corporation): The institution decision for this IPR is anticipated around 2026-09-18. A defendant should mark this date and review the institution decision once it is issued to understand which claims, if any, are instituted for trial and the Board's preliminary reasoning.
• IPR2026-00363 (Palo Alto Networks, Inc.): The institution decision for this IPR is anticipated around 2026-11-15. Similarly, a defendant should monitor this upcoming milestone for insights into the patentability of the challenged claims.

Both IPRs are in the statutory one-year trial window from the date of institution (if instituted), so the Final Written Decisions (FWDs) would be due approximately one year after their respective institution dates. Understanding the specific claims challenged and the prior art asserted in the petitions (which can be obtained from the USPTO PTAB E2E portal once available) would be crucial for evaluating potential weaknesses of the patent.