---
kind: "section"
citation: "37 C.F.R. § 43.4"
title: "37"
number: "43.4"
heading: "Limited pre-issuance management and Office involvement in decisions."
url: "https://uscodex.org/cfr/37/43.4"
---

# §43.4. Limited pre-issuance management and Office involvement in decisions.

- (a) Except as requested pursuant to [paragraph (b)](#b) of this section or permitted under paragraph [(d)](#d) or [(e)](#e) of this section, prior to issuance of a decision by the panel, no Management Judge or an officer or employee of the Office external to the Board shall initiate communication, directly or through intermediaries, with any member of a panel regarding the decision.
- (b) Any individual panel member may request that one or more Management Judges or an officer or employee of the Office external to the Board provide input on a decision prior to issuance. The choice to request input is optional and solely within the discretion of an individual panel member.
- (c) It is within the sole discretion of the panel to adopt any edits, suggestions, or feedback provided to the panel by a Management Judge or an officer or employee of the Office external to the Board as part of a review requested under [paragraph (b)](#b) of this section. The panel has final authority and responsibility for the content of a decision and determines whether and how to incorporate any feedback requested under [paragraph (b)](#b).
- (d) The prohibition of [paragraph (a)](#a) of this section shall not apply to any Management Judge who is a member of the panel. When sitting as a member of a panel, a Management Judge is a coequal member of the panel.
- (e) Nothing in this section shall prevent a Management Judge from communicating with a panel as to resource needs or the procedural status of any case pending before the Board.

## Notes

### Authority

Authority: 35 U.S.C. 2(b)(2), 6, 134, 135, 311, 316, 321, and 326.

### Source

Source: 89 FR 49814, June 12, 2024, unless otherwise noted.