URS Individual Proposal #26
- Ariel Liang
Analytics
URS Individual Proposal #26 Revise Paragraph 7 of the URS Policy to reflect the following additional provisions: 7.4 Each Provider shall publish their roster of Examiners who are retained to preside over URS cases specifically and identify how often each one has been appointed with a link to their respective decisions. |
Context:
Rationale provided by the Proponent: The URS Policy does not adequately provide for rotation of panelists, as it only vaguely “to the extent feasible to avoid forum or Examiner shopping”, pursuant to Paragraph 7.3. The issue is that the parties and the public are unable to determine to what extent such Examiner appointments are truly random and well distributed, thereby depriving stakeholders and the public of effective oversight of this fundamental aspect of the procedure.
Working Group Deliberation: There was wide support in the Working Group to publish the proposal in the Initial Report to seek public comment. Some Working Group members expressed practical concerns about implementing the proposal by the URS Providers. The Working Group noted that most URS Providers already publish their roster of Examiners, but may not take the further step of identifying the number/frequency of their appointments and the links to their respective decisions beyond the general publication of all URS decisions.