Today, the US Patent and Trademark Office issued a new, consolidated edition of its AIA Trial Practice Guide (November 2019), as announced on the PTO’s website.

As noted in the PTO’s announcement of the new Guide, “[t]he topics of revisions and updates included in this consolidated version include”:

• Institution of trial after SAS Institute Inc. v. Iancu, 138 S. Ct. 1348 (2018)
• Use of sur-replies in lieu of observations
• How parties may contact the Board to request an initial conference call
• Use of word counts
• The sample scheduling order for derivation proceedings
• The default protective order

The complete set of Trial Practice Guides is linked here:

• PTAB Trial Practice Guide – August 2012
• PTAB Trial Practice Guide – August 2018 Update
• PTAB Trial Practice Guide – July 2019 Update
• PTAB Consolidated Trial Practice Guide – November 2019