Although parties continue to file Requests for Rehearing of the PTAB’s Final Written Decision, none have yet succeeded in changing the outcome. According to Docket Navigator (www.docketnavigator.com), to date, 19 motions for rehearing of the Final Written Decision have been filed. Only one, in McLinton Energy Group, LLC v. Magnum Oil Tools International, Ltd., IPR 2013-00231, has been granted. Unfortunately for the patent owner in that case, although the request for rehearing was granted and the Board agreed to reconsider its Final Decision, it ultimately declined to make any modification.
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Petitioners Are Not Faring Well on 112-challenges in CBM Review
The transitional program for covered business method (CBM) patents is a review proceeding administered by the Patent Trial and Appeal Board to reconsider the patentability of one or more claims in a CBM patent. 
Petitioners seeking CBM review have enjoyed good success in knocking out claims for reciting subject matter ineligible for a patent. They have not, however, enjoyed similar success when challenging claims under 35 USC § 112 (concerning clarity, enablement, or written description).
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Prior Art Must be Analogous to the Entire Scope of Problem
On May 26, 2015, the Board issued its final written decision in Schott Gemtron Corp. v. SSW, IPR2014-00367, confirming the patentability of all of the challenged claims of U.S. Patent No. 8,286,561 (“the ’561 patent”).¹ The Board concluded the prior art on which the petitioner, Schott Gemtron Corporation, relied was not analogous to the ’561 patent’s claimed invention and, more particularly, the art was not reasonably pertinent to all the problems the inventor faced.
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