1716.03(b) Consolidating Proceedings
To ensure consistency and promote efficiency, the Director may consolidate proceedings involving the same registration, including a Director-initiated proceeding with a petition-initiated proceeding. See 37 C.F.R. §2.92(e)(1). Consolidated proceedings are related parallel proceedings that may include both expungement and reexamination grounds. Id.
If two or more petitions under 37 C.F.R. §2.91 directed to the same registration have been submitted and no ex parte expungement or reexamination proceeding has been instituted as to either, or the Director wishes to institute an ex parte expungement or reexamination proceeding on the Director’s own initiative under 37 C.F.R. §2.92(b) concerning a registration for which one or more petitions under 37 C.F.R. §2.91 was submitted, the Director may elect to institute a single proceeding. 37 C.F.R. §2.92(e)(2). For example, if two or more petitions directed to the same registration identify goods and/or services in different classes, but each petitioner provides the required evidence and complies with the requirements of 37 C.F.R. §2.91, the Director may institute a single proceeding for the convenience of both the USPTO and the registrant. Similarly, if two or more petitions directed to the same registration identify various goods and/or services with some overlap, the Director may institute a single proceeding that covers all of the goods and/or services for which a prima facie case concerning nonuse is established.