On July 15, 2019, the USPTO's Patent Trial and Appeal Board
(PTAB) published a second update to the AIA Trial Practice Guide
(TPG) ("2nd Update"), providing additional
guidance for trial practice before the Board.
The original TPG was published in August 2012, concurrent with
the promulgation of the AIA Trial Rules. In August 2018, the USPTO
published the first update to the TPG.
The USPTO has now issued a second update for certain sections of
the TPG to provide further guidance to the public. This TPG update
is not all-encompassing, and there may be further revisions as the
USPTO continues to review AIA trial proceedings.
Among other topics, the updated sections of the TPG include
guidance on: