The Federal Circuit denied en banc review of both Berkheimer and Aatrix, two Section 101 cases that had addressed the factual underpinnings of the question of law of patent subject matter eligibility.
Judge Reyna disagreed that the two cases did not present a change in the case precedent, whereas Judge Lourie suggested that Congress might provide greater clarity in the law.
Judge Moore: Berkheimer and Aatrix stand for the unremarkable proposition that whether a claim element or combination of elements would have been well-understood, routine, and conventional to a skilled artisan in the relevant field at a particular point in time is a question of fact.