(1) Two or more petitions filed with the collegiate tribunal of administrative patent judges to revoke the granted patent shall be joined for conducting hearings and rendering a decision, except in exceptional circumstances.
(2) If the collegiate tribunal of administrative patent judges finds it necessary to separate hearings on the joined petitions for revoking the granted patent under paragraph (1), it may separate the petitions for hearings.[This Article Newly Inserted on Feb. 29, 2016]