“Paneling” is the process of assigning the case to a panel of judges for adjudication. The PTAB’s Standard Operating Procedure (“SOP”) 1 describes the process by which judges are assigned to panels in all jurisdictions of the PTAB. See PTAB SOP 1. AIA trial hearings, reexaminations, and ex parte appeals paneling functions are completed by staff assigned to the Case Management Branch, located in Alexandria, Virginia, under guidance of the PTAB’s management.
A “panel” is a designated group of members of the PTAB assigned to adjudicate a proceeding. Judges typically are paneled in groups of three, but that may vary in certain cases. See PTAB SOP 1, p. 15. Judges have a wide variety of experience, and care is taken to select panels that have suitable experience to handle the technology at issue in a matter. In addition to technical discipline, paneling decisions also take into account factors including the type of proceeding, existence of related cases, equitable distribution of workloads, and the availability and location of the judge.
Heard ex parte appeal proceedings are generally paneled to the selected judges in groups of six. This grouping of cases constitutes a hearing session. When selecting ex parte appeal cases for paneling, consideration is also given to the location of counsel in an effort to schedule cases in the regional offices. This optimizes use of the hearing rooms in those locations and also provides some travel relief to counsel.
For reexamination proceedings, a panel can be assigned to one case or several cases in one session. Hearings in AIA trials are scheduled as set forth in an Order issued by the adjudicating panel. The Scheduling Order will generally indicate if a panel is available to hold a final hearing in locations other than Alexandria, Virginia, and will provide guidance to the parties on expressing a location preference. A panel may determine to hear several related cases in one session.