The whole PTAB trial timeline is extremely compressed, but one
deadline in particular stands out for its urgency: the Patent
Owner's objections to Petition evidence. The Patent Owner has
only 10 business days from institution to file objections to
Petition evidence. 37 § 42.64(b)(1). That includes
anything from the preliminary stage of the proceeding, and
it is the Patent Owner's only opportunity to preserve its right
to seek exclusion of the evidence in question.
Factual Inc. v. Locata LBS LLC (IPR2015-00224,
Paper 21, Nov. 18, 2015) illustrates the consequence of failure
to meet this deadline: waiver of the objection. In
Factual, the Patent Owner filed with its Patent Owner
Response objections to a Petition declaration, almost three months
late. The Petitioner moved to strike the Patent Owner's
objection, and the PTAB granted the motion. The PTAB pointed out
that the 10-day rule is immutable without first seeking the
Board's approval.
