PTAB challenges

Proceedings overview

There is one active AIA trial proceeding on file for US patent 12231426. As this proceeding is currently pending its institution decision, no claims have been invalidated or sustained by the PTAB. This means the patent's claims remain untested in an AIA trial.

IPR2026-00184 — Microsoft Corporation v. Qomplx LLC

• Type: Inter Partes Review
• Filed: 2025-12-30
• Status: Pending (The proceeding is active and has not yet reached an institution decision or merits determination).
  Note on Petitioner Identity: The "PTAB proceedings on file" provided in the prompt identifies Microsoft Corporation as the petitioner for IPR2026-00184. However, the Google Patents page for US12231426 states that the petitioner for IPR2026-00184 is "Unified Patents PTAB Data". For the purpose of this analysis, the "PTAB proceedings on file" list is treated as the canonical ground truth as explicitly instructed.
• Judge panel: Not publicly available from search results for this specific proceeding. Institution decisions for IPRs filed after October 20, 2025, are made by the USPTO Director.
• Petition grounds: Specific claims challenged, prior art cited, and statutory bases (§ 102 / § 103 / § 112) for IPR2026-00184 on US12231426 are not available in the provided search results.
• Institution decision: Not yet issued. The statutory deadline for an institution decision is typically six months from the petition filing date, which would be around June 30, 2026.
• Final Written Decision (if issued): Not issued.
• Settlement / termination: No information available.
• Appeal: Not applicable, as no Final Written Decision has been issued.
• Defensive value: This IPR is in its initial "pending" phase. Until an institution decision is rendered, it does not impact the patent's claims. Should the IPR be instituted, it will signal which claims are being challenged and on what prior art grounds, potentially providing an avenue for invalidity arguments.

Strategic summary

Currently, only one Inter Partes Review, IPR2026-00184, has been filed against US patent 12231426. As this proceeding is still in the "pending" stage, no claims of US12231426 have been canceled or sustained by the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB). Consequently, all claims of the patent remain untested by an AIA trial to date.

The estoppel landscape under 35 U.S.C. § 315(e)(2) has not yet been established for this patent, as no institution decision has been rendered for IPR2026-00184. Therefore, any prior-art grounds that Microsoft Corporation (as the petitioner in the canonical list) raised or reasonably could have raised are not yet barred for future actions by them or their privies. There is no discernible pattern of multiple IPR filings on this specific patent. The patent owner, Qomplx LLC (or Qomplx Inc.), has been involved in litigation with Microsoft, indicating a potential broader dispute.

Recommended next steps

Since IPR2026-00184 is currently pending, a defendant facing assertion of US patent 12231426 should closely monitor the PTAB's progress. The institution decision for this IPR is anticipated around June 30, 2026, which is six months from the petition's filing date. If the IPR is instituted, the specific grounds of invalidity will become public, and a trial schedule will be set, offering insights into potential challenges to the patent's validity. If institution is denied, the patent's claims will remain unchallenged by this specific proceeding, though other avenues for challenging validity may still exist. It is important to note the recent changes in PTAB discretionary institution policy, including the Director's authority over institution decisions and the consideration of U.S. manufacturing activity, which could influence the outcome of the institution decision for IPR2026-00184.