Institution is Discretionary -

35 USC §§ 314, 324 provide that the Director “may not authorize” a PTAB proceeding “unless” the petition shows that there is a “reasonable likelihood” (for IPR) or that it is “more likely than not” (for PGR) that Petitioner will prevail on at least one claim. As such, the decision to institute a PTAB proceeding is discretionary. As the Federal Circuit has indicated, “the PTO is permitted, but never compelled, to institute an IPR proceeding.” Harmonic Inc. v. Avid Tech., Inc., 815 F.3d 1367 (Fed. Cir. 2016). An institution decision is not appealable.