Docket Alarm Offers Powerful Analytics to Make Search Smarter


The days of conducting legal research in a vacuum are numbered. The latest developments in search utilize sophisticated full-text search engines in conjunction with big data analytics to give attorneys insight into the relationships between the many facets of litigation. Docket Alarm is helping to pave the way by offering a proprietary analytics platform in addition to a robust legal research engine.


Docket Alarm’s proprietary analytics add context and perspective to legal research. No other platform offers data analysis on all PTAB and federal court filings to enhance your search results in real time. Attorneys can aggregate statistics on parties, judges, lawyers, and technological subject matter. These statistics enable attorneys to create their own “predictive analytics,” giving them the ability to predict the outcome of decisions and devise winning strategies.

Below is an example of one of the many analytical tools provided by Docket Alarm. In a PTAB proceeding challenging the validity of a patent, the PTAB judges make an initial decision on whether to institute review and begin a trial. Over the past two years, PTAB judges have been instituted about 80% of all petitions. However, that is not the case across all technology areas. As shown in the Docket Alarm generated image below, in technology areas relating to biotech and organic compounds (technology center 1600 in the Patent Office), the chances of the PTAB instituting trial are about 10% lower than average. The histogram further below shows exactly how many petition grants, partial grants, and denials occur each month.  The chart below helps attorneys predict, based on the technology center, the likelihood of a petition to be granted or denied.




However, Docket Alarm’s analytics are not solely based on technology center. A user may enter their judge, or even a party’s name and receive updated real-time statistics for their specific scenario. Though the tool is no replacement for in-depth analysis by an attorney, it can help guide and confirm their own evaluation.

For example, if an attorney is trying a case before a particular PTAB judge, the attorney can look at that judge’s record on specific motions to determine the probability of a proposed motion being granted or denied. Using Docket Alarm’s filters, attorneys can filter docket and documents by PTAB Judge Sally Medley, returning results of every docket Judge Medley has been assigned to since becoming part of the PTAB judiciary. Attorneys can narrow down the results to a particular motion, such as a motion for supplemental information. Judge Medley’s record reveals that she has denied every motion for supplemental information during her tenure on the bench. Thus, if an attorney appearing before Judge Medley is contemplating filing a motion for supplemental information, they can quickly see the odds of the motion being granted are not in their favor.

Docket Alarm’s analytics not only provide unique insight, but empower attorneys to use research to develop winning strategies and avoid costly litigation pitfalls. Sign up today to start searching smarter.




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Docket Alarm is an advanced search and litigation tracking service for the Patent Trial and Appeals Board (PTAB), the International Trade Commission (ITC), Bankruptcy Courts, and Federal Courts across the United States. Docket Alarm searches and tracks millions of dockets and documents for thousands of users.

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