Takeaway: The Board may grant a request for rehearing but then, upon reconsideration, decline to modify its previous decision.

In its Decision, the Board granted Petitioner’s Request for Rehearing. However, after reconsidering the ground for which rehearing was requested, the Board declined to modify its previous Decision.

The Board’s Decision had denied each proposed ground of unpatentability. Petitioner then filed a Request for Rehearing challenging the Board’s determination with respect one of these grounds, namely, the one proposing that the addition of encryption to the Morris reference would have been obvious.  The Board reconsidered, but did not find convincing, certain arguments in the original Petition, and for the rest, maintained its previous positions without reconsideration.

Microsoft Corporation v. Secure Web Conference Corporation, IPR2014-00745 
Paper 15: Decision on Rehearing 
Dated: November 12, 2014 
Patent: 6,856,687 B2 
Before: Phillip J. Kauffman, Jennifer S. Bisk, and Beverly M. Bunting
Written by: Kauffman