shall be taken stenographically and transcribed, unless the parties present agree otherwise.

(c) In the absence of all opposing parties and their attorneys or agents, testimony may be taken in longhand, typewriting, or stenographically.

(d) All objections made at the time of the examination to the qualifications of the officer taking the deposition, or to the manner of taking it, or to the evidence presented, or to the conduct of any party, and any other objection to the proceedings, shall be noted by the officer upon the deposition. Evidence objected to shall be taken subject to the objections.

(e) When the testimony has been transcribed, the deposition shall be carefully read over by the witness, or by the officer to him, and shall then be signed by the witness in the presence of the officer unless the reading and the signature be waived on the record by agreement of all parties.

276. Certification and filing by officer. The officer shall annex to the deposition his certificate showing: (a) Due administration of the oath by the officer to the witness before the commencement of his testimony; (b) the name of the person by whom the testimony was taken down, and whether, if not taken down by the officer, it was taken down in his presence; (c) the presence or absence of the adverse party; (d) the place, day, and hour of commencing and taking the deposition; (e) that the deposition was read by or to the witness before he signed the same, and that he signed the same in the presence of the officer; and (f) the fact that the officer was not disqualified as specified in rule 274. If any of the foregoing requirements are waived, the certificate shall so state. The officer shall sign the certificate and affix thereto his seal of office, if he have such seal. Unless waived on the record by agreement, he shall then, without delay, securely seal in an envelope all the evidence, notices, and paper exhibits, inscribe upon the envelope a certificate giving the number and title of the case, the name of each witness, and the date of sealing, address the package, and forward the same to the Commissioner of Patents. If the weight or bulk of an exhibit shall exclude it from the enevelope, it shall, unless waived on the record by agreement of all parties, be authenticated by the officer and transmitted in a separate package, marked and addressed as provided in this rule.

277. Form of deposition. (a) The testimony must be written on letter size paper, with a wide margin on the left-hand side of the page, and with the writing on one side only of the sheet. The pages must be serially numbered throughout the entire record for each party (rule 253 (c)) and the name of the witness must be plainly and conspicuously written at the top of each page. The questions propounded to each wit

ness must be consecutively numbered, unless paper with numbered lines is used, and each question must be followed by its answer.

(b) In order to have a ribbon copy of the record available as required by rule 253 (f), a carbon copy of the deposition may be executed by the witnesses and the officer and filed as required by rule 276.

(c) Exhibits must be numbered or lettered consecutively and each must be marked with the number and title of the case and the name of the party offering the exhibit. Entry and consideration may be refused to improperly marked exhibits. (Amended June 25, 1973.)

278. Depositions must be filed. All depositions which are taken must be duly filed in the Patent Office. On refusal to file, the Office at its discretion will not further hear or consider the contestant with whom the refusal lies; and the Office may, at its discretion, receive and consider a copy of the withheld deposition, attested by such evidence as is procurable.

it

may

279. Inspection of testimony. After testimony is filed in the Office, be inspected by any party to the case, but it cannot be withdrawn for the purpose of printing. It may be printed by someone specially designated by the Office for that purpose, under proper restrictions.

281. Additional time for taking testimony. If either party has proceeded with the taking of testimony on his behalf but is unable to complete his case because of inability to procure the testimony of a witness or witnesses within the time limited and said time has expired, and he desires additional time for such purpose, he must file a motion, accompanied by a statement under oath or in the form of a declaration setting forth specifically the cause of such inability, the name or names of the witness or witnesses, the facts expected to be proved by such witness or witnesses, the steps which have been taken to procure such testimony, and the dates on which efforts have been made to procure it. (See rule 245 for extensions of time in other situations.) (Amended June 25, 1973.)

282. Official records and printed publications. (a) Official records and any special matter contained in a printed publication, if competent evidence and pertinent to the issue, may be introduced in evidence by filing in the Patent Office a notice to that effect, before the closing of the time for taking the testimony of the party (before the time for taking the testimony in chief if such matters are not in rebuttal), specifying the record or the printed publication, the page or pages thereof to be used, indicating generally its relevancy, and accompanied by the record or authenticated copy, or the printed publication or a copy. The notice and copies of the record or publication must be served on each of the other parties.

(b) In the case of prior applications, the filing date of which is claimed, compliance with the requirements of rules 224 and 231 is sufficient notice under this rule.

283. Testimony taken in another interference or action. Upon motion, supported by a showing demonstrating its relevance and materiality to the issue, duly made and granted, testimony taken in another interference proceeding or action, between the same parties or those in interest, may be used in an interference proceeding, subject, however, to the right of any contesting party to recall or demand the recall of witnesses whose testimony has been taken and who are physically and mentally able to testify, and to take other testimony in rebuttal of the testimony.

284. Testimony taken in foreign countries. Upon motion duly made and granted, testimony may be taken in foreign countries, upon complying with the following requirements:

(a) The motion must designate a place for the examination of the witnesses at which an officer duly qualified to take testimony under the laws of the United States in a foreign country shall reside, and it must be accompanied by a statement under oath that the motion is made in good faith, and not for the purposes of delay or of vexing or harassing any party to the case; it must also set forth the names of the witnesses, the particular facts to which it is expected each will testify, and the grounds on which is based the belief that each will so testify.

(b) It must be demonstrated that the testimony desired is material and competent, and that it cannot be taken in this country at all, or cannot be taken here without hardship and injury to the moving party greatly exceeding that to which the opposite party will be exposed by the taking of such testimony abroad.

(c) Upon the granting of such motion, a time will be set within. which the moving party shall file in duplicate the interrogatories to be propounded to each witness, and serve a copy of the same upon each adverse party, who may, within a designated time, file, in duplicate, cross-interrogatories. Objections to any of the interrogatories or cross-interrogatories may be filed at any time before the depositions are taken, and such objections will be considered and determined upon the hearing of the case.

(d) As soon as the interrogatories and cross-interrogatories are decided to be in proper form, the Commissioner will cause them to be forwarded to the proper officer, with the request that, upon payment of, or satisfactory security for, his official fees, he notify the witnesses named to appear before him within a designated time and make answer thereto under oath; and that he reduce their answers to writing, and transmit the same, under his official seal and signature, to the Commissioner of Patents with the certificate prescribed in rule 276.

(e) By stipulation of the parties the requirements of paragraph (c) of this rule as to written interrogatories and cross-interrogatories may be dispensed with, and the testimony may be taken before the proper officer upon oral interrogatories by the parties, their attorneys or their agents.

(f) Unless false swearing in the giving of such testimony before the officer taking it shall be punishable as perjury under the laws of the foreign state in which it shall be taken, it will not stand on the same footing in the Patent Office as testimony duly taken in the United States; but its weight in each case will be determined by the tribunal having jurisdiction of such case.

285. Effect of errors and irregularities in depositions. Notice will not be taken of merely formal or technical objections which shall not appear to have wrought a substantial injury to the party raising them; and in case of such injury it must be made to appear that, as soon as the party became aware of the ground of objection, he gave notice thereof.

(a) As to notice. All errors and irregularities in the notice for taking a deposition are waived unless objection is promptly made and served in writing upon the party giving the notice.

(b) As to disqualification of officer. Objection to taking a deposition because of disqualification of the officer before whom it is to be taken is waived unless made before the taking of the deposition begins or as soon thereafter as the disqualification becomes known or could be discovered with reasonable diligence.

(c) As to taking of deposition. (1) Objections to the competency of a witness or to the competency, relevancy, or materially of testimony are not waived by failure to make them before or during the taking of the deposition, unless the ground of the objection is one which might have been obviated or removed if presented at that time.

(2) Errors and irregularities occurring at the oral examination in the manner of taking the deposition, in the form of the questions or answers, in the oath or affirmation, or in the conduct of the parties, and errors of any kind which might be obviated, removed, or cured if promptly presented, are waived unless seasonable objection thereto is made at the taking of the deposition.

(d) As to completion and return of deposition. Errors and irregularities in the manner in which the testimony is transcribed or the deposition is prepared, signed, certified, sealed, indorsed, transmitted, filed, or otherwise dealt with by the officer are waived unless a motion to suppress the deposition or some part thereof is made with reasonable promptness after such defect is, or with due diligence might have been, ascertained.

286. Objections to admissibility. Subject to the provisions of rule 285, objection may be made to receiving in evidence any deposi

tion or part thereof, or any other evidence, for any reason which would require the exclusion of the evidence according to the established rules of evidence, which will be applied strictly by the Office.

287. Discovery.

(a) (1) Each party who expects to take testimony must serve on each opposing party who requests service the following:

(i) A copy of each document in his possession, custody, or control and upon which he intends to rely,

(ii) A list of and a proffer of reasonable access to things in his possession, custody, or control and upon which he intends to rely, and (iii) A list giving the names and addresses of all persons whom he intends to call as witnesses and indicating the relationship of each person to the invention in issue.

(2) Dates for compliance with subparagraph (1) of this paragraph will be set in accordance with the following:

(i) The date by which all parties may request service shall be not less than 10 days from the date of the order setting testimony times; (ii) The date for service by all junior parties shall be not less than 30 days from the date of the order setting such times;

(iii) The date for service by the senior party shall be not less than 10 days from the date set for the close of testimony in chief of all junior parties.

(3) Where more than two parties are involved and one of the junior parties is not entitled to take testimony as to a more senior party, the requirements of subparagraphs (1) and (2) of this paragraph shall not be applicable as between such parties.

(b) The provisions of paragraph (a) of this rule are without prejudice to the right of a party, where appropriate, to obtain production of documents or things during cross-examination of an opponent's witness or during his own period for rebuttal testimony.

(c) Upon motion (rule 243) brought by a party during the period for preparation for testimony, or thereafter as authorized under rule 245, and upon a showing that the interest of justice so requires, the Board of Patent Interferences may order additional discovery as to matters under the control of a party within the scope of the discovery rules of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, specifying the terms and conditions of such additional discovery. An order by the Board granting or denying a motion under this paragraph shall not be subject to review prior to a decision awarding priority.

(d) (1) A party will not be permitted to rely on any document or thing in his possession, custody, or control, or on any witness, not listed and served by that party as required by paragraph (a) of this rule, except upon a promptly filed motion accompanied by the proposed additional documents or lists together with a showing of sufficient cause as to why they were not served by the date set pursuant to paragraph