| Proppant Express Investments v. Oren Technologies, Case IPR2018-00914 (PTAB Mar. 13, 2019) (Paper 38) The POP concludes that 35 U.S.C. § 315(c) provides discretion to allow a petitioner to be joined to a proceeding in which it is already a party and provides discretion to allow joinder of new issues into an existing proceeding. The POP further concludes that the existence of a time bar under 35 U.S.C. § 315(b) is one of several factors that may be considered when exercising discretion under § 315(c). In order to balance various considerations, including those raised by other statutes such as the time bar of § 315(b), the Board will exercise this discretion only in limited circumstances—namely, where fairness requires it and to avoid undue prejudice to a party. This precedential decision can be found on the PTAB's Precedential and Informative Decisions page of the USPTO website. | 
