Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/17pdf/16-712_87ad.pdf
Page Number: 5.0

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OIL STATES ENERGY SERVICES, LLC v. GREENE’S 
ENERGY GROUP, LLC 
Opinion of the Court 

B 
  Over  the  last  several  decades,  Congress  has  created 
administrative processes that authorize the PTO to recon-
sider  and  cancel  patent  claims  that  were  wrongly  issued.  
In  1980,  Congress  established  “ex parte  reexamination,” 
which still exists today.  See Act To Amend the Patent and 
Trademark  Laws,  35  U. S. C.  §301  et seq.    Ex  parte  re- 
examination  permits  “[a]ny  person  at  any  time”  to  “file  a 
request  for  reexamination.”    §302.    If  the  Director  deter-
mines that there is “a substantial new question of patent-
ability”  for  “any  claim  of  the  patent,”  the  PTO  can  reex-
amine  the  patent.    §§303(a),  304.    The  reexamination 
process  follows  the  same  procedures  as  the  initial  exami-
nation.  §305. 
  In 1999, Congress added a procedure called “inter partes 
reexamination.”    See  American  Inventors  Protection  Act, 
§§4601–4608, 113 Stat. 1501A–567 to 1501A–572.  Under 
this procedure, any person could file a request for reexam-
ination.    35  U. S. C.  §311(a)  (2006  ed.).    The  Director 
would  determine  if  the  request  raised  “a  substantial  new 
question of patentability affecting any claim of the patent” 
and, if so, commence a reexamination.  §§312(a), 313 (2006 
ed.).    The  reexamination  would  follow  the  general  proce-
dures  for  initial  examination,  but  would  allow  the  third-
party  requester  and  the  patent  owner  to  participate  in  a 
limited manner by filing responses and replies.  §§314(a), 
(b) (2006 ed.).  Inter partes reexamination was phased out 
when  the  America  Invents  Act  went  into  effect  in  2012.  
See §6, 125 Stat. 299–305. 

C 
  The America Invents Act replaced inter partes reexami-
nation  with  inter  partes  review,  the  procedure  at  issue 
here.    See  id.,  at  299.    Any  person  other  than  the  patent 
owner  can  file  a  petition  for  inter  partes  review.    35 
U. S. C. §311(a) (2012 ed.).  The petition can request can-