Frilette v. Kimberlin

The principal issue addressed on the rehearing in banc is whether we should now overrule In re Natta,1 which decided that 35 U.S.C. § 242 permits the parties to an interference proceeding pending in the Patent Office to obtain discovery in the district courts under the provisions of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.

I concur in Judge Van Dusen’s careful analysis of the language and history of section 24, which indicates that it was reasonable for this Court to conclude in Natta that the reference in section 24 to the Federal Rules was intended to include the broad discovery procedures…