What’s New

OWE’s Baum Comments on the TTAB for Law360 in Light of Recent Supreme Court Ruling

On March 21, 2015, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its ruling in B&B Hardware v. Hargis Industries.  The Court’s opinion addresses the issue of preclusion – the relation between a contested trademark registration proceeding before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (“TTAB”) and an infringement proceeding in a federal district court.

OWE’s John C. Baum commented for Law360: “Hargis turns a bright spotlight on the decisions of the TTAB, and if the quality of the judges and their decisions in recent years are predictors, the overall effect on U.S. trademark law and practice should be positive. The TTAB’s judges and attorneys have more experience deciding U.S. trademark law cases than any single court in the country. Hargis means that many more of the cases that reach these specialized judges will be litigated carefully and fully, or not at all, because the stakes will be greater. The result should be even better and more useful decisions from the TTAB.”

Full opinion available here.

See All Posts