In a Patent Case, an Accusation is a request for relief, the resolution of which could determine if a patent has been infringed or the patent’s validity or enforceability.

For example, a case with one plaintiff asserting one patent against one defendant would involve one Accusation. A case with one plaintiff asserting 5 patents against 10 defendants would result in 50 Accusations. Multiple claims involving the same parties and patents (e.g., a claim of infringement and a declaratory judgment counterclaim of invalidity or unenforceability) are counted as a single accusation. In a PTAB proceeding, each challenge to the patentability of a patent counts as a patent accusation. Docket Navigator records Accusations as a group of data consisting of a Patentee name, a Patent Challenger name (often an accused infringer), the patent being asserted or challenged, and the Outcome of the Accusation.