Parties harness the PTAB's authority to compel third
parties only in rare situations.
The PTAB's tight trial schedule allows no room for
protracted discovery fights. That usually doesn't matter,
because parties rarely seek more than routine cross-examination of
the opponent's witnesses. And even when they seek other
evidence, such as when investigating a real-party-in-interest
issue, the evidence sought usually is in the control of a party to
the proceeding.
But when essential evidence is in the control of a third party,
a subpoena may be necessary to obtain access to it. It's not
necessarily that the third party refuses to cooperate; many
companies' policies require a subpoena or some other court
order to produce documents or witnesses.
