USPTO Board Hearings to Be Open to the Public

Beginning August 1, 2006, patent hearings conducted by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Offices's Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences ("BPAI") and trademark hearings conducted by the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board ("TTAB") will be open to the public.

Docket schedules will be will be posted in advance on the USPTO Web sites at http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/dcom/bpai/index.html and http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/dcom/ttab/index.html. A limited number of spaces will be available to the public on a first-come, first-served basis. No advance requests for attendance by the public will be permitted.

Thirty minutes before the scheduled start of the hearing session, members of the public should arrive at the lobby level, Madison East Guard Desk and request a hearing badge for hearings in a specific hearing room, e.g., A, B, C, or D. Attendees will need to surrender a picture ID in exchange for a hearing badge. The Guard Desk will only issue a given number of hearing badges for each hearing room on a first come, first served basis. Fifteen minutes before the start of a hearing session a hearing usher will escort the public attendees with badges to the hearing rooms. Upon exiting the building, hearing badges are turned in at the Guard Desk in exchange for the attendee's picture ID.

Once granted entry to the hearing session, public attendees are required to stay for the entire hearing session even though there may be more than one proceeding scheduled during the hearing session.

For further information and procedures for admittance to board hearings, see: http://www.uspto.gov/web/patents/patog/week30/OG/TOC.htm#ref11.