Petition to Cancel Trademark
This page is about a Petition to Cancel which occurs in the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board after a trademark registers. If you are involved in a TTAB case with a trademark that has not yet registered and you need assistance with a Notice of Opposition, please see our Trademark Opposition page. If a Notice of Opposition or Petition to Cancel has been filed against you, your may see our TTAB Answer page. For a more thorough discussion of Petition to Cancel proceedings, please see our Trademark Cancellation page. If you need a Petition to Cancel lawyer, please contact us today.
What is a Petition to Cancel?
Before a trademark is registered, parties have the opportunity to oppose the registration by filing a notice of opposition within a certain time frame. However, the passing of this window of time and registration of a trademark does not mean that the opportunity to challenge the trademark disappears. Under the Lanham Act which is also referred to as the Trademark Act of 1946, parties that believe they may suffer damage due to a registered trademark have the ability to file a Petition to Cancel that registration with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). If you believe you have valid reasons to challenge a trademark already on the Principal or Supplemental Register, you can file a Petition to Cancel with the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB).
To file a valid Petition to Cancel, you must demonstrate that you have legal standing to challenge the trademark registration and that there are specific legal grounds for which the trademark registration should be canceled. Reasons commonly cited include that the trademark is confusingly similar to an existing trademark such that it may cause consumer confusion, that a trademark is no longer in use, or that a trademark is merely descriptive or generic. To ensure that your Petition to Cancel will hold up and be taken seriously, it is advisable to have an experienced trademark lawyer review your situation and draft your Petition to Cancel or the response.
How to Respond to a Cancellation Request
If a Petition to Cancel has been filed against you, there are many grounds to oppose. If you are notified that a Petition to Cancel has been filed against your registered trademark and that a cancellation proceeding has been scheduled, you have 40 days to respond with an answer. If the trademark owner fails to respond, the trademark registration will be canceled based on a default judgment. When responding to a Petition to Cancel, it is important to set out all of the relevant defenses in the proper manner.
The TTAB will establish a strict schedule for the cancellation proceedings, and no matter which side of the case you are on, adhering to these deadlines is important.
Hire a Petition to Cancel Lawyer Today
In the event of a trademark cancellation, we are aggressive trademark lawyers. We have handled over 400 trademark cancellations and notices of opposition. Our many years of experience with TTAB matters has allowed us to create strategies that win TTAB cases, often very quickly. As such, we have a very high winning percentage in the TTAB. You may view the over 400 TTAB cases that we have handled by clicking here.
Contact Us
If you are involved in a trademark cancellation and need to file a Petition to Cancel, or if one has been filed against you, please contact us today.
The results mentioned above were dependent on the facts of the case, and results of such cases differ if based on different facts, thus the above statements do not constitute guarantees‚ warranties‚ or predictions regarding the outcome of your legal matter.
