The Patent Trial and Appeal Board and Indiana University Maurer School of Law will host a law school moot court competition in spring 2027. Each team will submit one written brief and argue at least once before a panel of Administrative Patent Judges, with finalists invited to make their arguments in person at USPTO headquarters in Alexandria. There is no entry fee, but only a limited number of teams will be admitted; interested schools can contact PTABMOOT@iu.edu.
The competition follows a PTAB moot court held in 2024-25 and is described as a more structured continuation of that effort. The announcement pitches it toward “the PTAB advocates of tomorrow,” but it arrives at a low point for AIA trial work. Petitioners filed about 450 IPR petitions in FY2026, down from about 1,400 the year before.
Patently-O’s Dennis Crouch attributes the decline to would-be petitioners expecting their cases to be swiftly denied by Director Squires. He expects filings to rise again only after a new administration is in place, and he suggests the numbers may continue to yo-yo over the next few years. The competition therefore stands as a long-term training opportunity even while current PTAB demand remains depressed.