Official trademark registration certificates will be issued to trademark applicants starting on May 24, 2022 by the USPTO via email.

The change is occurring due to customer feedback desiring electronic registration certificates and will decrease wait times for trademark applicants to receive registration certificates. With this change, printed registration certificates will no longer be mailed to trademark applicants and instead will be issued and… Read More »

On December 27, 2020, the Trademark Modernization Act of 2020 (“TMA”) became law after being passed by the U.S. Congress and signed by the President as part of the end of year Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021.

The TMA includes significant amendments to the Lanham Act (the federal trademark law) which are designed to modernize USPTO trademark examination procedures in addition to other areas of… Read More »

As the USPTO implements the Trademark Modernization Act (TMA), it has issued new guidance on how to improve the accuracy of the Register so that it reflects marks in use and does not contain registrations that should not be maintained or should not have been granted in the first place, for example, due to fake specimens, other fraud, or error.

As part of this effort,… Read More »

On June 24, 2019, the U.S. Supreme Court decided in Iancu v. Brunetti that the trademark FUCT should be allowed to register in light of existing federal Trademark Law registration prohibitions against trademark applications which are deemed to be “immoral” or “scandalous”. The Supreme Court found that the prohibition against registration of such an application is an unconstitutional restriction on free speech and thus violating… Read More »

On July 2, 2019, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) announced a new rule requiring all foreign-domiciled trademark applicants, registrants, and parties to Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) proceedings to be represented by a United States licensed attorney.

The requirement applies to all parties whose permanent legal residence or principal place of business is outside the United States. The new rule requires… Read More »

The USPTO is currently undertaking an initiative to ensure the accuracy and integrity of the Trademark Register and as part of this initiative, the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) recently began piloting a program exploring the effectiveness of an expedited cancellation proceeding regarding two types of challenges to registered trademarks.

Under the pilot program, the TTAB identifies newly-filed cancellation proceedings limited to abandonment or… Read More »