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§ 10.92 Contact with witnesses. - PATENT RULES

§ 10.92 Contact with witnesses.

(a) A practitioner shall not suppress any evidence that the practitioner or the practitioner's client has a legal obligation to reveal or produce.

(b) A practitioner shall not advise or cause a person to be secreted or to leave the jurisdiction of a tribunal for the purpose of making the person unavailable as a witness therein.

(c) A practitioner shall not pay, offer to pay, or acquiesce in payment of compensation to a witness contingent upon the content of the witness' affidavit, testimony or the outcome of the case. But a practitioner may advance, guarantee, or acquiesce in the payment of:

(1) Expenses reasonably incurred by a witness in attending, testifying, or making an affidavit.

(2) Reasonable compensation to a witness for the witness' loss of time in attending, testifying, or making an affidavit.

(3) A reasonable fee for the professional services of an expert witness.

[Added 50 FR 5181, Feb. 6, 1985, effective Mar. 8, 1985]

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