404.08(a) Objections to Notice
Objections to errors and irregularities in a notice of the taking of a discovery deposition must be promptly served, in writing, on the party giving the notice; any such objections that are not promptly served are waived. [ Note 1.] For information concerning the raising of objections to a notice of reliance on a discovery deposition, see TBMP § 707.02 and TBMP § 532. For information regarding a motion to quash a notice of deposition or for a protective order, see TBMP § 521 and TBMP § 410.
NOTES:
1. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 32(d)(1). Compare S. Industries Inc. v. Lamb-Weston Inc., 45 USPQ2d 1293, 1298 (TTAB 1997) (Board will not rule in advance of deposition as to whether information sought is confidential or otherwise objectionable); Neville Chemical Co. v. Lubrizol Corp., 183 USPQ 184, 189 (TTAB1974) (objections to subject matter of deposition may only be raised during, not prior to, the deposition), with Red Wing Co. v. J.M. Smucker Co., 59 USPQ2d 1861, 1864 (TTAB 2001) (objections to subject matter of Fed. R. Civ. P. 30(b)(6) deposition raised prior to deposition). Cf. with regard to notice of testimony depositions, 37 CFR § 2.123(j); Sunrider Corp. v. Raats, 83 USPQ2d 1648, 1652 and 1655 (TTAB 2007) (overruling objections that notice of deposition was facially deficient and noting that a ruling on sufficiency of notice could have been made prior to the deposition by seeking a telephone conference with a Board attorney); Of Counsel Inc. v. Strictly of Counsel Chartered, 21 USPQ2d 1555, 1556 n.2 (TTAB 1991) (premature taking of testimony deposition could have been corrected upon seasonable objection); Steiger Tractor, Inc. v. Steiner Corp., 221 USPQ 165, 169 (TTAB 1984) (testimony deposition excluded where notice did not name witness and objection was timely made and consistently maintained), reconsideration granted on other grounds, 3 USPQ2d 1708 (TTAB 1984); Hamilton Burr Publishing Co. v. E. W. Communications, Inc., 216 USPQ 802, 804 n.6 (TTAB 1982).