INTA 2016 session preview: TTAB news
Today at the INTA annual meeting in Orlando, John Welch, counsel at law firm Wolf Greenfield will provide a rundown of the key issues at the TTAB. Welch, author of the renowned TTABlog, tells WIPR the key points he will cover in his session.
Newly-proposed changes to the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) rules of practice are intended to simplify procedures and maximise efficiency by use of electronic filing and service of papers, but do they go far enough to reign in discovery abuses and are they fair to defendants?
I will also discuss pending challenges to the constitutionality of Section 2(a) of the Lanham Act’s bar to the registration of disparaging and scandalous marks. The Redskins and Slants cases are knocking on the door of the US Supreme Court, while the US Patent & Trademark Office has suspended prosecution of cases involving these issues.
Also up for discussion will be court rulings on the issue of preclusion after the Supreme Court’s B&B Hardware decision, the probative value of evidence of third-party use and registration, and TTAB rulings on parent/subsidiary licensing, acceptability of concurrent use agreements and more.
