Effective 1 September 2025, all hearings before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) will be conducted in person. Parties involved must attend these hearings physically and in person unless they can demonstrate a valid reason for not doing so. Acceptable justifications typically include situations such as significant financial difficulty for the arguing attorneys, medical issues, or similar substantial barriers to travel.
For hearings scheduled on or after 1 September 2025:
- A party may submit a request to participate remotely if they can show good cause.
- If one party is granted virtual participation, that does not automatically justify the same for other parties involved.
- Hearings will take place at one of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) locations, and participants may request a preferred location (Alexandria, Denver, Dallas, Detroit, or San Jose). The PTAB indicated it will try to honor these preferences when possible.
- Members of the public will still have the option to observe hearings remotely via the same video process.
- It is likely that, like pre-pandemic, one or more judges will still appear remotely from the in-person location.
- Anyone from the public wishing to attend—either in person or virtually—must email PTABHearings@uspto.gov no later than three business days before the scheduled hearing.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
