Expungement and Reexamination Proceedings under the Trademark Modernization Act

The Trademark Modernization Act (TMA) amended the Lanham Act to establish new expungement and reexamination proceedings. The goal of the proceedings is to remove marks that do not meet the use in commerce requirements from the USPTO trademark register that may be blocking legitimate business owners from registering their marks. Additionally, the proceedings are intended to provide a more efficient and less expensive alternative to a contested TTAB inter partes cancellation proceeding. Read this practice note for expert guidance on the proceedings including the grounds for each type of petition, procedural considerations including time limits and who can file, requirements for investigating and filing petitions, a registrant's options for proving use or otherwise responding to petitions, and how the USPTO processes and examines the petitions.

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