Takeaway: The Board may excuse a party’s late filing of a paper in the interests of justice, despite not showing good cause for the late filing, where the party would suffer prejudice if the late filing were not excused.

In its Order, the Board excused Petitioner’s late filing of its Reply, which was filed “a few minutes after midnight” the day after the stipulated deadline. The Board held a conference call with the parties and authorized Petitioner, PMI, to file a “motion to deem the filing of the Reply as untimely.” The Board indicated that it appeared the late filing was for “reasons other than technical difficulty,” and desired that “PMI provide testimony in the form of a declaration to explain ‘the entire story’ regarding its late filing.” Continue reading →