A newly filed opposition in IPR2025-00677 puts a familiar but strategically important PTAB issue front and center: whether a patent owner’s proposed substitute claims can survive scrutiny when offered through a contingent motion to amend. In its April 7, 2026 filing, the petitioner asks the Patent Trial and Appeal Board to deny the patent owner’s amendment request, arguing that the revised claims still do not satisfy the governing patentability and procedural standards.

A contingent motion to amend is exactly what it sounds like: the patent owner proposes substitute claims only if the Board finds the original claims unpatentable.

In a short but useful procedural order, the Patent Trial and Appeal Board granted the patent owner’s unopposed motion to withdraw existing lead counsel and substitute new lead counsel in PGR2025-00086. The order applies 37 C.F.R. § 42.10, the PTAB rule governing counsel recognition and changes in representation, and reflects the Board’s routine but important emphasis on continuity of representation.

Although the ruling does not break new doctrinal ground, it is a practical reminder that PTAB counsel changes are not automatic.

Toyota Motor Corporation has filed a new inter partes review petition at the Patent Trial and Appeal Board, opening proceeding IPR2026-00333 on April 7, 2026. The filing places at issue the validity of a patent that, while not identified in the docket caption itself, is now the subject of a formal PTAB challenge by one of the world’s largest automotive companies. For patent owners and accused infringers alike, that alone makes this proceeding worth watching closely.

At this stage, the key public-facing details are the petitioner, the forum, and the timing.