In an April 1, 2016 Federal Register Notice (“Notice”),1 the United States Patent and Trademark Office (“Office”) finalized amendments to rules governing trial practice for inter partes review, post-grant review, transitional postgrant review for covered business method patents, and derivation proceedings before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (“Board”) under the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act (AIA). The notice largely adopts the amendments proposed in August 2015, which we analyzed here. The amendments will result in a more robust proceeding, particularly at the preliminary stage, and provide more opportunities for advocacy, such as...