Pharmaceutical patents listed in the FDA’s “Orange Book” are some of the most valuable patents in the world. Accordingly, for this valuable subset of patents, it is paramount that the Patent & Trademark Office (PTO) correctly issue valid patents and preclude invalid patents from issuing....

In a set of two studies , I determine: (1) which examiners are sending patents to litigation and, of those, (2) which examiners are sending invalidated patents to litigation. Together, these studies determine what conditions might predict the likelihood of an examiner’s patents getting...