discretion; (d) transmission by first class mail which may also be certified or registered. When service is by mail the date of mailing will be regarded as the date of service. Whenever it shall be satisfactorily shown to the Commissioner that none of the above modes of obtaining or serving the paper is practicable, service may be by notice published in the Official Gazette.

INTERFERENCES: TRIAL

251. Assignment of times for discovery and taking testimony. (a) A period for preparation for testimony will be set in which all parties should complete discovery and other preparatory activities, except for service by the senior party required by rule 287 (a) (1) which is governed by rule 287 (a) (2) (iii).

(b) Times will be assigned in which the junior party shall complete his testimony in chief, and in which the other party shall complete the testimony on his side, and a further time in which the junior party may take rebutting testimony, but he shall take no other testimony. If there be more than two parties to the interference, the times for taking testimony will be so arranged that each shall have an opportunity to prove his case against prior parties and to rebut their evidence, and also to meet the evidence of junior parties.

(c) Times for preparation of testimony, for compliance with rule 287(a) and for taking of testimony will ordinarily be assigned in notices sent to the parties after motions under rule 231 have been disposed of or, if no such motions have been filed, after the close of the motion period (rule 231).

(d) Testimony shall be taken during the times assigned in accordance with rules 271 to 286.

(e) The date for final hearing will ordinarily be set in separate notices. (Amended June 25, 1973.)

252. Failure of junior party to take testimony. Upon the filing of a motion for judgment by any senior party to an interference stating that the time for taking testimony on behalf of any junior party has expired and that no testimony has been taken and no other evidence offered by said junior party, an order shall be entered that the junior party show cause within a time set therein, not less than ten days, why judgment should not be rendered against him, and in the absence of a showing of good and sufficient cause, judgment shall be so rendered. In the absence of such a motion, if any junior party fails to file an evidentiary record by the date set as provided in rule 253(d), a patent interference examiner shall enter the order to show

cause.

253. Copies of the testimony. (a) In addition to the certified transcript of the testimony (rules 275 to 278) or executed copies of

affidavits or stipulated testimony or facts (rule 272), three true copies of the record of each party must be filed for the use of the Patent Office (a total of four copies), and one true copy of the record must be served upon each of the opposing parties.

(b) These copies of the record may be submitted either in printed or in typewritten form.

(c) These records, whether printed or typewritten, must include the testimony presented by the party filing the same. A copy of the counts of the interference and the preliminary statement required by rules 215 to 227 must be included. Each record must contain an index of the names of the witnesses, giving the pages where their examination and cross-examination begin, and an index of the exhibits, briefly describing their nature and giving the pages at which they are introduced and offered in evidence, and also the pages where copies of exhibits are shown when such exhibits are copied in the record. The pages must be serially numbered throughout the entire record and the names of the witnesses must appear at the top of the pages over their testimony.

(d) The copies of the record for all parties must be filed and served on the opposing parties by the date specified in the order setting times. for taking testimony or such extensions as may be granted.

(e) When the copies of the record are submitted in printed form, they shall be printed in 11-point type and adequately leaded; the paper must be opaque and unglazed; the size of the page shall be 75% by 1014 inches; the size of the printed matter shall be 41% by 7% inches; and they shall be bound to lie flat when opened. Twenty-five additional copies for the United States Court of Customs and Patent Appeals, should appeal be taken, may also be filed; if no such appeal be taken, the twenty-five copies will be returned to the party filing them.

(f) When the copies of the record are submitted in typewritten form, they must be clearly legible on opaque, unglazed, durable paper approximately 812 by 11 inches in size (letter-size) and one of the three copies must be a ribbon copy, but need not be executed by the certifying officer. (The certified transcript may be a properly executed carbon copy. See rule 277.) The typing shall be on one side of the paper, in not smaller than pica type; and double-spaced with a margin of 11⁄2 inches on the left-hand side of the page. The sheets shall be bound at their left edges, in such manner to lie flat when opened, in a volume or volumes of convenient size (approximately 100 pages per volume is suggested) provided with covers. Documentary exhibits should not be included in bound volumes of testimony. Multigraphed or otherwise reproduced copies conforming to the standards specified will be accepted.

(g) The testimony of any party failing to supply copies of his record as specified may be refused consideration. (Amended June 25, 1973.)

254. Briefs at final hearings. Briefs at final hearing before the Board of Patent Interferences shall be submitted in printed form, except that when not in excess of 50 legal-size double-spaced typewritten pages, or the equivalent thereof, and in any other case where satisfactory reason therefor is shown, they may be submitted in typewritten form. If submitted in printed form, they shall be the same in size and the same as to page and print as is specified for printed copies of testimony. Typewritten briefs shall conform to the requirements for typewritten copies of testimony, except that legal-size paper may be used and the binding and covers specified are not required. Every brief of more than 15 pages shall contain a subject index with page references, supplemented by a list of all authorities referred to, together with references to pages thereof. Each party should make a statement in his brief identifying those parts of his record upon which he relies. Three copies of each brief must be filed. The times for filing briefs will ordinarily be set in the order setting times for taking testimony. The brief for the junior party shall present a full and fair statement of the questions involved, including his position with respect to priority evidence on behalf of other parties, and a clear statement of the points of law or fact upon which he relies.

255. Request for findings of fact and conclusions of law. Either party may, in his brief, submit concise proposed findings of fact, supported by specific references to and analysis of the record, and conclusions of law, supported by citation of authorities. The opposing party may, in his brief in reply thereto, accept any such proposed findings, or reject any proposed findings giving the reasons therefor, and may likewise submit proposed findings. The Board of Patent Interferences may, in its discretion, adopt the proposed findings in whole or in part.

256. Final hearing. (a) Final hearings will be held by the Board of Patent Interferences on the day appointed at the designated time. If either party appears at the proper time, he will be heard. After the day of hearing, the case will not be taken up for oral argument except by consent of all parties. If the Board of Patent Interferences be prevented from hearing the case at the time specified, a new assignment will be made, or the case will be continued from day to day until heard. Unless it shall be otherwise ordered before the hearing begins, oral arguments will be limited to not more than one hour for each party. A junior party may reserve a portion of his time for rebuttal purposes, but a full and fair opening of his case must be made. After a contested case has been argued, nothing further relating thereto

C

will be heard unless upon request of the Board of Patent Interferences. (b) Any request or petition for rehearing or reconsideration, or modification of the decision, must be filed within thirty days from the date of the original decision, unless that decision is so modified as to become, in effect, a new decision, and the Board of Patent Interferences so states. Any reply thereto must be filed within fifteen days from the filing of the petition. (See rule 304.)

257. Burden of proof. (a) The parties to an interference will be presumed to have made their inventions in the chronological order of the filing dates of their applications for patents involved in the interference or the effective filing dates which such applications have been accorded; and the burden of proof will rest upon the party who shall seek to establish a different state of facts.

(b) The termination of the interference by dissolution under rule 231 or rule 237, without an award of priority, or by an award of