TRADEMARK CANCELATION

Our skilled trademark attorneys have extensive experience working with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Trademark Trial and Appeal Board, appeals, and litigating trademark rights in federal courts. Let us help you navigate cancelation proceedings. Trademark cancellation proceedings occur after a trademark has already been registered. In summary:

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1. Grounds for Cancelation: Trademark cancelation proceedings may be initiated by a third party or the USPTO itself. The grounds for cancelation include issues such as abandonment, fraud in the procurement of the registration, genericness, descriptiveness, or if the mark has become a common name for the goods or services.

2. Filing a Petition for Cancelation: A party seeking to cancel a registered trademark files a petition for cancelation with the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB). The petitioner must have legal standing, meaning they are directly affected by the registration.

3. Notice to Registrant: The TTAB notifies the registrant of the cancelation petition, and the registrant has an opportunity to respond to the allegations.

4. Discovery Period: Similar to opposition proceedings, there may be a discovery period during which both parties can gather evidence, depose witnesses, and obtain relevant information.

5. Trial Proceedings: If the cancelation case proceeds, it goes to trial. Both parties present their arguments, evidence, and witnesses before the TTAB.

6. Decision: After considering the evidence and arguments, the TTAB issues a decision either canceling the trademark registration, maintaining the registration, or taking other appropriate actions.

7. Appeals: Either party may appeal the TTAB decision to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.

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• Trademark Registration

• Opposition Proceedings

• Trademark Frequently Asked Questions

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