501.01 In General
Subject to the approval of the Board, parties may stipulate to a wide variety of matters. For example, parties may stipulate to extend or reopen times; that the total number of interrogatories which one party may serve upon another party in a proceeding may be reduced from or may exceed the limitation specified in 37 CFR § 2.120(d)(1); that the production of documents and things under the provisions of Fed. R. Civ. P. 34 may be made in a specified place and/or manner [ Note 1.]; to protective agreements or provisions different from or in substitution for the Board’s standard protective order; to the facts in the case of any party [ Note 2.]; that the testimony of witnesses may be submitted in affidavit form [ Note 3.]; that a deposition may be taken at a particular place, or in a certain manner [ Note 4.]; that the proceeding shall be ended in a specified way; and to pretrial disposition on the merits or abbreviated trial on the merits by means of Accelerated Case Resolution (ACR). [ Note 5.] See TBMP § 403.04 (Extensions of Discovery Period, Time to Respond to Discovery Requests, and Disclosures), TBMP § 412.02 (Modification of Board’s Standard Protective Order Upon Stipulation), TBMP § 528.05(a)(2) (Accelerated Case Resolution (ACR)), and TBMP § 605.03 (Settlement Agreements), TBMP § 702.04 (Accelerated Case Resolution), TBMP § 702.04(e) (Utilizing Stipulations in Non-ACR cases), and TBMP § 705 (Stipulated Evidence and Accelerated Case Resolution).
NOTES:
2. 37 CFR § 2.123(b). See Target Brands Inc. v. Hughes, 85 USPQ2d 1676, 1678 (TTAB 2007) (the parties stipulated to the entire record, including business records, public records, marketing materials, Internet materials, and 13 paragraphs of facts, while reserving the right to object to such facts and documents on the bases of relevance, materiality and weight).
5. See, e.g., Chanel Inc. v. Makarczyk, 106 USPQ2d 1774, 1775-76 (TTAB 2013) (approving parties’ stipulation to proceed via Accelerated Case Resolution).