By Jim Warriner ( June 6, 2017, 11:39 AM EDT) -- Inter partes reviews have rapidly become a preferred procedure for challenging the validity of patents since the establishment of the proceeding in September 2012. One of the reasons Congress established IPRs was to provide a "faster, less costly alternative[] to civil litigation to challenge patents."[1] When compared to district court litigation, the possibility of invalidating patents while being subject to only limited discovery is an attractive proposition for many accused infringers. A stay of district court litigation pending IPR is not a given, however. Being subject to parallel proceedings at the Patent Trial and Appeal Board and the district court, and the cost of retaining both litigation and IPR counsel, is a prospect that may dissuade some would-be IPR filers....