37 CFR 41.102 : Patents, Trademarks, And Copyrights (Section 2.11 To Chapter V) — United States Patent And Trademark Office, Department Of Commerce (Parts 1 - 199) (Section 2.11 To Parts 151-199) — Unknown Title (Parts 2 - 90) (Section 2.11 To Section 90.3) — Practice Before The Patent Trial And Appeal Board (Section 41.1 To Section 41.208) — Contested Cases (Section 41.100 To Section 41.158) — Completion of examination.

31 Dec 2014

Before a contested case is initiated, except as the Board may otherwise authorize, for each involved application and patent:

(a) Examination or reexamination must be completed, and

(b) There must be at least one claim that:

(1) Is patentable but for a judgment in the contested case, and

(2) Would be involved in the contested case.

37 CFR 41.102