MR. JUSTICE WHITE delivered the opinion of the Court.
Respondent University of Illinois Foundation (hereafter Foundation) is the owner by assignment of U. S. Patent No. 3,210,767, issued to Dwight E. Isbell on October 5, 1965. The patent is for "Frequency Independent Unidirectional Antennas," and Isbell first filed his application May 3, 1960. The antennas covered are designed for transmission and reception of electromagnetic radio frequency signals used in many types of communications, including the broadcasting of radio and television signals.
The patent has been much litigated since it was granted, primarily because it claims a high quality television antenna for color reception.
In March 1966, well before Judge Stephenson had ruled in the Winegard case, the Foundation also filed suit in the Northern District of Illinois charging a Chicago customer of petitioner, Blonder-Tongue Laboratories, Inc. (hereafter B-T), with infringing two patents it owned by assignment: the Isbell patent and U. S. Patent No. Re. 25,740, reissued March 9, 1965, to P. E. Mayes et al. The Mayes patent was entitled "Log Periodic Backward Wave Antenna Array," and was, as indicated, a reissue of No. 3,108,280, applied for on September 30, 1960. B-T chose to subject itself to the jurisdiction of the court to
Trial was again to the court, and on June 27, 1968, Judge Hoffman held that the Foundation's patents were valid and infringed, dismissed the unfair competition and antitrust charges, and found claim 5 of the B-T patent obvious and invalid. Before discussing the Isbell patent in detail, Judge Hoffman noted that it had been held invalid as obvious by Judge Stephenson in the Winegard litigation. He stated:
B-T sought certiorari, assigning the conflict between the Courts of Appeals for the Seventh and Eighth Circuits as to the validity of the Isbell patent as a primary reason for granting the writ.
I
In Triplett v. Lowell, 297 U.S. 638 (1936), this Court held:
The holding in Triplett has been at least gently criticized by some judges. In its opinion in the instant case, the Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit recognized the Triplett rule but nevertheless remarked that it "would seem sound judicial policy that the adjudication of [the question of the Isbell patent's validity] against the Foundation in one action where it was a party would provide a defense in any other action by the Foundation for infringement of the same patent." 422 F. 2d, at 772.
At oral argument the following colloquy occurred between the Court and counsel for B-T:
II
Triplett v. Lowell exemplified the judge-made doctrine of mutuality of estoppel, ordaining that unless both parties (or their privies) in a second action are bound by a judgment in a previous case, neither party (nor his privy) in the second action may use the prior judgment as determinative
But even at the time Triplett was decided, and certainly by the time the Restatement was published, the mutuality rule had been under fire. Courts had discarded the requirement of mutuality and held that only the party against whom the plea of estoppel was asserted had to have been in privity with a party in the prior action.
Building upon the authority cited above, the California Supreme Court, in Bernhard v. Bank of America Nat. Trust & Savings Assn., 19 Cal.2d 807, 122 P.2d 892 (1942), unanimously rejected the doctrine of mutuality, stating that there was "no compelling reason . . . for requiring that the party asserting the plea of res judicata must have been a party, or in privity with a party, to the earlier litigation." Id., at 812, 122 P. 2d, at 894. Justice Traynor's opinion, handed down the same year the Restatement was published, listed criteria since employed by many courts in many contexts:
Although the force of the mutuality rule had been diminished by exceptions and Bernhard itself might easily have been brought within one of the established exceptions, "Justice Traynor chose instead to extirpate the mutuality requirement and put it to the torch." Currie, Civil Procedure: The Tempest Brews, 53 Calif. L. Rev. 25, 26 (1965).
Bernhard had significant impact. Many state and federal courts rejected the mutuality requirement, especially where the prior judgment was invoked defensively in a second action against a plaintiff bringing suit on an issue he litigated and lost as plaintiff in a prior action.
Many federal courts, exercising both federal question and diversity jurisdiction, are in accord unless in a diversity case bound to apply a conflicting state rule requiring mutuality.
Obviously, these mutations in estoppel doctrine are not before us for wholesale approval or rejection. But at the very least they counsel us to re-examine whether mutuality of estoppel is a viable rule where a patentee seeks to relitigate the validity of a patent once a federal court has declared it to be invalid.
III
The cases and authorities discussed above connect erosion of the mutuality requirement to the goal of limiting relitigation of issues where that can be achieved without compromising fairness in particular cases. The courts have often discarded the rule while commenting on crowded dockets and long delays preceding trial. Authorities differ on whether the public interest in efficient judicial administration is a sufficient ground in and of itself for abandoning mutuality,
Some litigants—those who never appeared in a prior action—may not be collaterally estopped without litigating the issue. They have never had a chance to present their evidence and arguments on the claim. Due process prohibits estopping them despite one or more existing adjudications of the identical issue which stand squarely against their position. See Hansberry v. Lee, 311 U.S. 32, 40 (1940); Bernhard, 19 Cal. 2d, at 811, 122 P. 2d, at 894. Also, the authorities have been more willing to permit a defendant in a second suit to invoke an estoppel against a plaintiff who lost on the same claim in an earlier suit than they have been to allow a plaintiff
There are several components of the problem. First, we analyze the proposed abrogation or modification of the Triplett rule in terms of those considerations relevant to the patent system. Second, we deal broadly with the economic costs of continued adherence to Triplett. Finally, we explore the nature of the burden, if any, that permitting patentees to relitigate patents once held invalid imposes on the federal courts.
A
Starting with the premise that the statutes creating the patent system, expressly sanctioned by the Constitution,
We fully accept congressional judgment to reward inventors through the patent system. We are also aware that some courts have frankly stated that patent litigation can present issues so complex that legal minds, without appropriate grounding in science and technology, may have difficulty in reaching decision.
Even conceding the extreme intricacy of some patent cases, we should keep firmly in mind that we are considering the situation where the patentee was plaintiff in the prior suit and chose to litigate at that time and place. Presumably he was prepared to litigate and to litigate to the finish against the defendant there involved. Patent litigation characteristically proceeds with some deliberation and, with the avenues for discovery available under the present rules of procedure, there is no reason to suppose that plaintiff patentees would face either surprise or unusual difficulties in getting all relevant and probative evidence before the court in the first litigation.
Moreover, we do not suggest, without legislative guidance, that a plea of estoppel by an infringement or
Determining whether a patentee has had a full and fair chance to litigate the validity of his patent in an earlier case is of necessity not a simple matter. In addition to the considerations of choice of forum and incentive to litigate mentioned above,
We are not persuaded, therefore, that the Triplett rule, as it was formulated, is essential to effectuate the purposes of the patent system or is an indispensable or even an effective safeguard against faulty trials and judgments. Whatever legitimate concern there may be about the intricacies of some patent suits, it is insufficient in and of itself to justify patentees relitigating validity issues as long as new defendants are available. This is especially true if the court in the second litigation must decide in a principled way whether or not it is just and equitable to allow the plea of estoppel in the case before it.
B
An examination of the economic consequences of continued adherence to Triplett has two branches. Both, however, begin with the acknowledged fact that patent litigation is a very costly process. Judge Frank observed in 1942 that "the expense of defending a patent suit is often staggering to the small businessman." Picard v. United Aircraft Corp., 128 F.2d 632, 641 (CA2 1942) (concurring opinion). In Lear, Inc. v. Adkins, 395 U.S. 653, 669 (1969), we noted that one of the benefits accruing to a businessman accepting a license from a patentee who was threatening him with a suit was avoiding "the necessity of defending an expensive infringement action during the period when he may be least able to afford one." Similarly, in replying to claims by alleged
This statement, and arguments such as the one made in Baker Mfg., supra, must be assessed in light of the fact that they are advanced by patentees contemplating action as plaintiffs, and patentees are heavily favored as a class of litigants by the patent statute. Section 282 of the Patent Code provides, in pertinent part:
If a patentee's expense is high though he enjoys the benefits of the presumption of validity, the defendant in an infringement suit will have even higher costs as he both introduces proof to overcome the presumption and attempts to rebut whatever proof the patentee offers to bolster the claims. In testimony before the Senate subcommittee considering patent law revision in 1967, a member of the President's Commission on the Patent
Statistics tend to bear this out. Patent suits constitute between 1% and 2% of the total number of civil cases filed each year in the District Courts.
As stated at the outset of this section, the expense of patent litigation has two principal consequences if the Triplett rule is maintained. First, assuming that a perfectly sound judgment of invalidity has been rendered in an earlier suit involving the patentee, a second infringement action raising the same issue and involving much of the same proof has a high cost to the individual parties. The patentee is expending funds on litigation to protect a patent which is by hypothesis invalid. These moneys could be put to better use, such as further research and development. The alleged infringer—operating as he must against the presumption of validity—is forced to divert substantial funds to litigation that is wasteful.
The second major economic consideration is far more significant. Under Triplett, only the comity restraints flowing from an adverse prior judgment operate to limit the patentee's right to sue different defendants on the same patent. In each successive suit the patentee enjoys the statutory presumption of validity, and so may easily put the alleged infringer to his expensive proof. As a consequence, prospective defendants will often decide that paying royalties under a license or other settlement is preferable to the costly burden of challenging the patent.
This is borne out by the observations of the President's Commission on the Patent System and recent testimony on proposals for changes in the patent laws. Motivated by the economic consequences of repetitious patent litigation, the Commission proposed:
The Commission stressed the competitive disadvantage imposed on an alleged infringer who is unable or unwilling to defend a suit on the patent, stating also that a "patentee, having been afforded the opportunity to
The tendency of Triplett to multiply the opportunities for holders of invalid patents to exact licensing agreements or other settlements from alleged infringers must
One obvious manifestation of this principle has been the series of decisions in which the Court has condemned attempts to broaden the physical or temporal scope of the patent monopoly. As stated in Mercoid v. MidContinent Investment Co., 320 U.S. 661, 666 (1944):
A second group of authorities encourage authoritative testing of patent validity. In 1952, the Court indicated that a manufacturer of a device need not await the filing of an infringement action in order to test the validity of a competitor's patent, but may institute his own suit under the Declaratory Judgment Act. Kerotest Mfg. Co. v. C-O-Two Co., 342 U. S., at 185-186.
Two Terms ago in Lear, Inc. v. Adkins, 395 U.S. 653 (1969), we relied on both lines of authority to abrogate the doctrine that in a contract action for unpaid patent royalties the licensee of a patent is estopped from proving "that his licensor was demanding royalties for the use of an idea which was in reality a part of the public domain." 395 U. S., at 656. The principle that "federal law requires that all ideas in general circulation be dedicated to the common good unless they are protected by a valid patent," 395 U. S., at 668, found support in Sears and Compco and the first line of cases discussed above.
To be sure, Lear obviates to some extent the concern that Triplett prompts alleged infringers to pay royalties on patents previously declared invalid rather than to engage in costly litigation when infringement suits are
This has several economic consequences. First, the alleged infringer who cannot afford to defend may absorb the royalty costs in order to compete with other manufacturers who have secured holdings that the patent is invalid, cutting the profitability of his business and perhaps assuring that he will never be in a financial position to challenge the patent in court. On the other hand, the manufacturer who has secured a judicial holding that the patent is invalid may be able to increase his market share substantially, and he may do so without coming close to the price levels that would prevail in a competitive market. Because he is free of royalty payments, the manufacturer with a judgment against the patent may price his products higher than competitive levels absent the invalid patent, yet just below the levels set by those manufacturers who must pay royalties. Third, consumers will pay higher prices for goods covered by the invalid patent than would be true had the initial ruling of invalidity had at least the potential for broader effect. And even if the alleged infringer can escape royalty obligations under Lear when he is able to bear the cost of litigation, any royalty payments passed on to consumers are as a practical matter unrecoverable by those who in fact paid them. Beyond all of this, the
Economic consequences like these, to the extent that they can be avoided, weigh in favor of modification of the Triplett mutuality principle. Arguably, however, the availability of estoppel to one charged with infringement of a patent previously held invalid will merely shift the focus of litigation from the merits of the dispute to the question whether the party to be estopped had a full and fair opportunity to litigate his claim in the first action. Moore & Currier, supra, n. 7, at 309-310. It would seem sufficient answer to note that once it is determined that the issue in both actions was identical, it will be easier to decide whether there was a full opportunity to determine that issue in the first action than it would be to relitigate completely the question of validity. And, this does not in fact seem to have been a problem in other contexts, where strict mutuality of estoppel has been abandoned.
It has also been suggested that 35 U. S. C. § 285, which allows a court to award reasonable attorney's fees to a prevailing party "in exceptional cases,"
C
As the preceding discussion indicates, although patent trials are only a small portion of the total amount of litigation in the federal courts, they tend to be of disproportionate length.
Even accepting respondents' characterization of these figures as de minimis, it is clear that abrogation of Triplett will save some judicial time if even a few relatively lengthy patent suits may be fairly disposed of on pleas of estoppel. More fundamentally, while the cases do discuss reduction in dockets as an effect of elimination of the mutuality requirement, they do not purport to hold that predictions about the actual amount of judicial time that will be saved under such a holding control decision
D
It is clear that judicial decisions have tended to depart from the rigid requirements of mutuality. In accordance with this trend, there has been a corresponding development of the lower courts' ability and facility in dealing with questions of when it is appropriate and fair to impose an estoppel against a party who has already litigated an issue once and lost. As one commentator has stated:
When these judicial developments are considered in the light of our consistent view—last presented in Lear, Inc. v. Adkins—that the holder of a patent should not be insulated from the assertion of defenses and thus allowed
IV
Res judicata and collateral estoppel are affirmative defenses that must be pleaded. Fed. Rule Civ. Proc. 8 (c). The purpose of such pleading is to give the opposing party notice of the plea of estoppel and a chance to argue, if he can, why the imposition of an estoppel would be inappropriate. Because of Triplett v. Lowell, petitioner did not plead estoppel and respondents never had an opportunity to challenge the appropriateness of such a plea on the grounds set forth in Part III-A of this opinion. Therefore, given the partial overruling of Triplett, we remand the case. Petitioner should be allowed to amend its pleadings in the District Court to assert a plea of estoppel. Respondents must then be permitted to amend their pleadings, and to supplement the record with any evidence showing why an estoppel should not be imposed in this case. If necessary, petitioner may also supplement the record. In taking this action, we intimate no views on the other issues presented in this case. The judgment of the Court of Appeals is vacated and the cause is remanded to the District Court for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.
FootNotes
"Those skilled in the art [of antenna design] at the time of the Isbell application knew (1) the log periodic method of designing frequency independent antennas, (2) that antenna arrays consisting of straight dipoles with progressively varied lengths and spacings exhibit greater broad band characteristics than those consisting of dipoles of equal length and spacing and, (3) that a dipole array type antenna having elements spaced less than 1/2 wavelength apart could be made unidirectional in radiation pattern by transposing the feeder line between elements and feeding the array at the end of the smallest element.
"It is the opinion of the Court that it would have been obvious to one ordinarily skilled in the art and wishing to design a frequency independent unidirectional antenna to combine these three old elements, all suggested by the prior art references previously discussed." 271 F. Supp., at 418-419.
"Q. Well, has Petitioner finally decided to forego any request for reconsidering Triplett, entirely, or in any part? I understood you previously to say you would welcome a modification of it to some extent.
"A. Well, Your Honor, I think that is correct. The question . . . that was asked of us in our brief by this Court was should Triplett be overruled. That we answered no.
"Now the question is should there be modification. I think in all of law, when somebody is abusing it, . . . there are exceptions, and I think the Solicitor [General] is very close to [using] the idea that if in fact this were the same trial and they had the opportunity to present their witnesses before, and they didn't do it, that it seriously ought to be considered whether there ought to be an estoppel in a situation such as this." Tr. of Oral Arg. 64-65.
Rule 23 (1) (c) of the Rules of this Court states that "[o]nly the questions set forth in the petition or fairly comprised therein will be considered by the court." While this rule reflects many decisions stating that the Court is not required to decide questions not raised in a petition for certiorari, it does not limit our power to decide important questions not raised by the parties. The rule has certain well-recognized exceptions, particularly in cases arising in the federal courts. See R. Robertson & F. Kirkham, Jurisdiction of the Supreme Court of the United States § 418 (R. Wolfson & P. Kurland ed. 1951); R. Stern & E. Gressman, Supreme Court Practice § 6.37 (4th ed. 1969).
The instant case is not one where the parties have not briefed or argued a question that the Court nevertheless finds controlling under its authority to notice plain error. See Rule 40 (1) (d) (2), Rules of the Supreme Court of the United States; Silber v. United States, 370 U.S. 717 (1962). Rather, given what transpired at oral argument, the case is like Moragne v. States Marine Lines, Inc., 398 U.S. 375 (1970). There, after granting certiorari, we asked the parties to brief and argue the continued validity of The Harrisburg, 119 U.S. 199 (1886). The petitioner, who would have stood to gain if The Harrisburg perished, argued that that decision should be overruled, but strongly maintained that it was unnecessary to do so in order to afford her relief. Respondent, of course, argued that The Harrisburg should be left intact. The United States, appearing as amicus curiae, urged the Court to overrule The Harrisburg, and that was the result.
Moreover, in a landmark decision involving an important question of judicial administration in the federal courts, this Court overruled a prior decision of many years' standing although the parties did not urge such a holding in their briefs. Erie R. Co. v. Tompkins, 304 U.S. 64, 66, 68-69 (1938). See also R. Jackson, The Struggle for Judicial Supremacy 281-282 (1949). While the question here is hardly of comparable importance, it is a significant one, in the same general field, and it has been fully briefed and argued by the parties and amici. See Moragne, 398 U. S., at 378-380, n. 1; cf. NLRB v. Pittsburgh S. S. Co., 337 U.S. 656, 661-662 (1949).
"General Rule. Except as stated in §§ 94-111, a person who is not a party or privy to a party to an action in which a valid judgment other than a judgment in rem is rendered (a) cannot directly or collaterally attack the judgment, and (b) is not bound by or entitled to claim the benefits of an adjudication upon any matter decided in the action."
Illustration 10 of the Restatement stated the essentials of the Triplett rule:
"A brings an action against B for infringement of a patent. B defends on the ground that the alleged patent was void and obtains judgment. A brings an action for infringement of the same patent against C who seeks to interpose the judgment in favor of B as res judicata, but setting up no relation with B. On demurrer, judgment should be for A."
"It is true that [the owner of the automobile], not being a party to the earlier actions, and not having had a chance to litigate her rights and liabilities, is not bound by the judgments entered therein, but, on the other hand, that is not a valid ground for allowing the plaintiffs to litigate anew the precise questions which were decided against them in a case in which they were parties."
The Supreme Court of Oregon was the most recent state court to adopt Bernhard. Bahler v. Fletcher, 257 Or. 1, 474 P.2d 329 (1970); see also Pennington v. Snow, 471 P.2d 370, 376-377 (Alaska 1970); Ellis v. Crockett, 51 Haw. 45, 56, 451 P.2d 814, 822 (1969); Pat Perusse Realty Co. v. Lingo, 249 Md. 33, 238 A.2d 100 (1968); Sanderson v. Balfour, 109 N.H. 213, 247 A.2d 185 (1968); Home Owners Fed. Savings & Loan Assn. v. Northwestern Fire & Marine Ins. Co., 354 Mass. 448, 451-455, 238 N.E.2d 55, 57-59 (1968) (approving use of Bernhard by a defendant against a previously losing plaintiff); DeWitt, Inc. v. Hall, 19 N.Y.2d 141, 225 N.E.2d 195 (1967); Lustik v. Rankila, 269 Minn. 515, 131 N.W.2d 741 (1964); Lucas v. Velikanje, 2 Wn.App. 888, 471 P.2d 103 (1970) (lower state appellate court held that State Supreme Court would follow Bernhard in an appropriate case); Howell v. Vito's Trucking & Excavating Co., 20 Mich.App. 140, 173 N.W.2d 777 (1969); Desmond v. Kramer, 96 N.J.Super. 96, 232 A.2d 470 (1967); Lynch v. Chicago Transit Authority, 62 Ill.App.2d 220, 210 N.E.2d 792 (1965).
"For patent litigation there is a special reason why relitigation is not automatically banned as needless or redundant, and why error should not be perpetuated without inquiry. Patent validity raises issues significant to the public as well as to the named parties. Sinclair & Carroll Co. v. Interchemical Corp., 325 U.S. 327, 330 (1945). It is just as important that a good patent be ultimately upheld as that a bad one be definitively stricken. At the same time it must be remembered that the issue of patent validity is often `as fugitive, impalpable, wayward, and vague a phantom as exists in the whole paraphernalia of legal concepts. . . . If there be an issue more troublesome, or more apt for litigation than this, we are not aware of it.' Harries v. Air King Products Co., supra, 183 F. 2d at 162 (per L. Hand, C. J.). Because of the intrinsic nature of the subject, the first decision can be quite wrong, or derived from an insufficient record or presentation." Technograph Printed Circuits, 178 Ct. Cl., at 556, 372 F. 2d, at 977-978.
It is significant that the President's Commission identified as one of its primary objectives "reduc[ing] the expense of obtaining and litigating a patent." "To Promote the Progress of . . . Useful Arts" In an Age of Exploding Technology, Report of the President's Commission on the Patent System 4 (1966) (hereafter Commission Report). Judge Rich of the Court of Customs and Patent Appeals, whose public reaction to the Commission Report was mixed, did agree that "[l]itigation being as expensive as it is, no one embarks upon it lightly." Rich, The Proposed Patent Legislation: Some Comments, 35 Geo. Wash. L. Rev. 641, 644 (1967).
Fiscal 1968 Fiscal 1969 Fiscal 1970 Total civil non-jury trials. . . . 5,478 5,619 6,078 Total patent non-jury trials. . 129 124 116 Approx. % of non-jury civil cases concluded in 3 trial days or less. . . . . . . . . . . 92.2 92.8 93.1 Approx. % of non-jury patent cases concluded in 3 trial day or less. . . . . . . . . . . . 49.6 46.8 44.0 Approx. % of non-jury civil trials taking 10 or more trial days to conclude. . . . . . . . . 1.7 1.2 1.3 Approx. % of non-jury patent trials taking 10 or more trial days to conclude. . . . . . 14.7 15.3 19 Source: Annual Reports 1968-1970, Table C-8.
"(a) In any action in a Federal court in which the issue of the validity or scope of a claim of a patent is properly before the court, and the owner of the patent as shown by the records of the Patent Office is a party or has been given notice as provided in subsection (c) of this section, a final adjudication, from which no appeal has been or can be taken, limiting the scope of the claim or holding it to be invalid, shall constitute an estoppel against the patentee, and those in privity with him, in any subsequent Federal action, and may constitute an estoppel in such other Federal actions as the latter court may determine, involving such patent. Within thirty days of such adjudication the clerk of the court shall transmit notice thereof to the Commissioner, who shall place the same in the public records of the Patent Office pertaining to such patent, and endorse notice on all copies of the patent thereafter distributed by the Patent Office that the patent is subject to such adjudication.
"(b) In any action as set forth in subsection (a) of this section, upon a final adjudication from which no appeal has been or can be taken that a claim of the patent is invalid, the court may order cancellation of such claim from the patent. Such order shall be included in the notice to the Commissioner specified in subsection (a) of this section, and the notice of cancellation of a claim shall be published by the Commissioner and endorsed on all copies of the patent thereafter distributed by the Patent Office.
"(c) In any action in a Federal court in which the validity or scope of a claim of a patent is drawn into question, the owner of the patent, as shown by the records of the Patent Office, shall have the unconditional right to intervene to defend the validity or scope of such claim. The party challenging the validity or scope of the claim shall serve upon the patent owner a copy of the earliest pleadings asserting such invalidity. If such owner cannot be served with such pleadings, after reasonable diligence is exercised, service may be made as provided for in the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and, in addition, notice shall be transmitted to the Patent Office and shall be published in the Official Gazette."
"(a) In any action in a Federal court in which the issue of the validity of a claim of a patent is drawn into question, and the owner of the patent is shown by the records of the Patent Office is a party or has been given notice as provided in subsection (b) of this section, the court may, upon final adjudication, from which no appeal has been or can be taken, holding the claim to be invalid after such claim has previously been held invalid on the same ground by a court of competent jurisdiction from which no appeal has been or can be taken, order cancellation of such claim from the patent. Within thirty days of such order the clerk of the court shall transmit notice thereof to the Commissioner, who shall place the same in the public records of the Patent Office pertaining to such patent, and notice of cancellation of the claim shall be published by the Commissioner and endorsed on all copies of the patent thereafter distributed by the Patent Office.
"(b) In any action in a Federal court in which the validity of a claim of a patent is drawn into question, the owner of the patent, as shown by the records of the Patent Office, shall have the unconditional right to intervene to defend the validity of such claim. The party challenging the validity of the claim shall serve upon the patent owner a copy of the earliest pleadings asserting such invalidity. If such owner cannot be served with such pleadings, after reasonable diligence is exercised, service may be made as provided for in the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and, in addition, notice shall be transmitted to the Patent Office and shall be published in the Official Gazette."
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