The Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) is an administrative board of the United States Patent and Trademark Office. The TTAB hears and decides adversary proceedings between two parties, namely, oppositions (party opposes a mark after publication in the Official Gazette ) and cancellations (party seeks to cancel an existing registration). The TTAB also handles interference and concurrent use proceedings, as well as appeals of final refusals issued by USPTO examining attorneys within the course of the prosecution of applications. The Trademark Trial and Appeal Board is located in the offices of the United States Patent and Trademark Office in Alexandria, Virginia.
A useful guide to TTAB practice is the Trademark Board Manual Procedure (TBMP), which provides practitioners and brand owners with basic information generally useful for litigating cases before the TTAB. The manual does not modify, amend, or serve as a substitute for any existing statutes, rules, or decisional law and is not binding upon the TTAB, its reviewing tribunals, the Director, or the USPTO. Rather, the TBMP describes current practice and procedure under the applicable authority, as of the manual’s issue date.
For complete information about TTAB Rules of Practice, the Trademark Board Manual of Procedure must be read in conjunction with the August 1, 2007 Federal Register notice detailing significant changes to the TBMP.
If you or your company are a party to a trademark opposition or trademark cancellation proceeding in familarity with trademark law, and the TTAB Rules of Practice are essential.