What Is Patently-O and What Can You Read on the Patent Law Blog?

Patently-O is a US-focused patent law blog written primarily by Dennis Crouch, and it is best understood as a source for patent case law analysis, USPTO policy commentary, and patent data. It is useful if you want regular, practitioner-level reading on US patent law; it is not a general introduction to intellectual property or a substitute for primary sources such as court opinions and USPTO data. Some posts are fully open, while others require a membership or login to read past the opening section.

What Patently-O covers

The blog's own description is simply "the nation's leading patent law blog," and its keyword set points to the topics it returns to: patents, patent law, patent jobs, intellectual property, IP rights, IPR, and patent litigation.

In practice, that means content such as:

• Case law analysis — posts on Federal Circuit and Supreme Court decisions and what they mean for prosecution and litigation.
• USPTO news and policy — rule changes, examination practice, and agency-level developments.
• Patent data and trends — statistical posts on grants, publications, and applicant behavior.
• Practice commentary — observations aimed at patent attorneys, agents, and in-house IP staff.
• Patent jobs — job listings appear among the site's topic keywords.

A concrete example of the data side is the FY2026 update shown on the site: the USPTO issued 315,825 utility patents in FY2026, down 3.8% from FY2025, with about half of that drop attributed to a calendar artifact (FY2025 had 53 patent-issuing Tuesdays versus the usual 52). The same post notes that continuing applications (continuations, divisionals, and CIPs) fell to about 26% of FY2026 utility grants from 36% in FY2025, and that patents whose first-named inventor claims US residence fell below 40% for the first time. That is the kind of post Patently-O publishes: a specific number, a stated caveat, and an interpretation.

Free versus member access

Access is mixed, and the distinction matters if you plan to rely on the site.

The FY2026 data post is a clear example of the paywall boundary: the excerpt ends with "To continue reading, become a Patently-O member. Already a member? Simply log in to access the full post." So you can see the headline finding and the first few paragraphs, but the full analysis and the comment thread sit behind membership or login.

The site lists both a membership signup and a free daily email option. Nothing in the available material states what membership costs, so treat pricing as something to check on the membership page rather than assume.

How to use it to track US patent law

If your goal is staying current rather than reading one article:

1. Subscribe to the free daily email if you want headlines and open posts delivered without checking the site.
2. Skim by topic — case law and USPTO policy posts are the ones most likely to affect filing or litigation strategy; data posts are better for context than for decisions.
3. Read the primary source before acting. A blog post summarizes and argues; the opinion, rule, or dataset it discusses is what you cite.
4. Expect a paywall on the most substantive posts. If a post is central to your work, plan on membership or login rather than assuming the full text is open.

Who it is for

Patently-O fits readers who already have a working grasp of US patent law: patent attorneys and agents, in-house IP counsel, litigators, and researchers studying the US patent system. If you are starting from zero — asking what a patent is or which form of IP protection you need — a blog of case analysis and grant statistics is the wrong entry point; you would do better with an introductory explainer first and come back here once the vocabulary is familiar.

One practical caveat: because the blog mixes free and member-only content, it works well as a headline-and-trend source for non-members and as a full analysis source for members. Decide which role you need before relying on it as a daily habit.