If someone is registering a mark too close to yours, you can stop it — but the window is short. This guide walks through opposing a trademark before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB), from the 30-day deadline to the final decision. When you're ready, we file and run it for you as U.S. counsel.
A trademark opposition is a proceeding to prevent a pending application from registering. It is decided by the TTAB — an administrative board within the USPTO — entirely in writing through the ESTTA system. There is no in-person trial. Here is how it works.
Once an application passes examination, the USPTO publishes it in the Official Gazette. That publication starts the clock. The only reliable way to catch a conflicting mark in time is to monitor publications — a trademark watch — because the USPTO will not notify you.
To oppose, you need standing (a real commercial interest that would be harmed) and a valid ground. The most common ground is a likelihood of confusion with your earlier mark. Others include mere descriptiveness, genericness, dilution of a famous mark, priority, fraud, or a lack of bona fide intent to use. Choosing the right grounds — and being able to prove them — is what decides the case.
You have 30 days from publication to file a notice of opposition through ESTTA — or to request an extension of time to oppose, which can buy up to 90 days (and a further period for good cause) to investigate and negotiate. Applicants and opposers domiciled outside the U.S. must be represented by a U.S.-licensed attorney (37 C.F.R. § 2.11(a)). Our attorney is admitted in New York and files directly for you.
After the notice is filed, the applicant has 40 days to answer — admitting or denying each allegation and raising defenses. Many oppositions settle around this stage, often through a coexistence agreement or an amendment to the application.
The parties hold a discovery conference and exchange initial disclosures, then may serve document requests and interrogatories and take depositions. Discovery is where the evidence for confusion, priority or fame is actually built — it is the heart of most TTAB cases.
Evidence is submitted during assigned testimony periods (by declaration or deposition), followed by trial briefs. An oral hearing is optional. Because everything is on the written record, careful drafting and a clean evidentiary record matter more than courtroom performance.
The TTAB issues a written decision sustaining or dismissing the opposition; either side may appeal. If the mark has already registered and you missed the opposition window, the parallel remedy is a cancellation proceeding — same board, similar grounds.
Deadline: 30 days from publication (extendable) · Forum: TTAB, via ESTTA, in writing · Timeline: ~1–3 years if contested · Foreign parties: U.S. attorney required.
Missing the 30-day window; opposing without a provable ground or standing; weak or late evidence in discovery; and treating settlement as failure — a well-timed coexistence agreement is often the best outcome. See our opposition service page for how we handle each stage.
Send us the application serial number or the notice you received — we'll assess your grounds and the timeline, and act within the window.