37 C.F.R. 1.673, Notice of examination of witness.

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1.673 Notice of examination of witness.

(a)

A party authorized to take testimony of a witness by deposition shall, after complying with para­graphs (b) and (g) of this section, file and serve a single notice of deposition stating the time and place of each deposition to be taken. Depositions to be taken in the United States may be noticed for a reasonable time and place in the United States. A deposition may not be noticed for any other place without approval of an administrative patent judge. The notice shall specify the name and address of each witness and the general nature of the testimony to be given by the witness. If the name of a witness is not known, a general description sufficient to identify the witness or a particular class or group to which the witness belongs may be given instead.

(b)

Unless the parties agree or an administrative patent judge or the Board determine otherwise, a party shall serve, but not file, at least three working days prior to the conference required by paragraph (g) of this section, if service is made by hand or Express Mail, or at least 14 days prior to the conference if service is made by any other means, the following:

(1)

A list and copy of each document in the party's possession, custody, or control and upon which the party intends to rely at any deposition and

(2)

A list of and a proffer of reasonable access to things in the party's possession, custody, or control and upon which the party intends to rely at any deposition.

(c)

A party shall not be permitted to rely on any witness not listed in the notice, or any document not served or any thing not listed as required by paragraph (b) of this section:

(1)

Unless all opponents agree in writing or on the record to permit the party to rely on the witness, document or thing, or

(2)

Except upon a motion (1.635) promptly filed which is accompanied by any proposed notice, additional documents, or lists and which shows good cause why the notice, documents, or lists were not served in accordance with this section.

(d)

Each opponent shall have a full opportunity to attend a deposition and cross-examine.

(e)

A party who has presented testimony by affidavit and is required to notice depositions for the purpose of cross-examination under 1.672(b), shall, after complying with paragraph (g) of this section, file and serve a single notice of deposition stating the time and place of each cross-examination deposition to be taken.

(f)

The parties shall not take depositions in more than one place at the same time or so nearly at the same time that reasonable opportunity to travel from one place of deposition to another cannot be had.

(g)

Before serving a notice of deposition and after complying with paragraph (b) of this section, a party shall have an oral conference with all opponents to attempt to agree on a mutually acceptable time and place for conducting the deposition. A certificate shall appear inthe notice stating that the oral conference took place or explaining why the conference could not be had. If the parties cannot agree to a mutually acceptable place and time for conducting the deposition at the conference, the parties shall contact an administrative patent judge who shall then designate the time and place for conducting the deposition.

(h)

A copy of the notice of deposition shall be attached to the certified transcript of the deposition filed under 1.676(a).

[49 FR 48469, Dec. 12, 1984, added effective Feb. 11, 1985; paras. (a)-(e) & (g) revised, 60 FR 14488, Mar. 17, 1995, effective Apr. 21, 1995]

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