Someone is trying to register a mark too close to yours — or your own application has been opposed. Both are decided by the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB), and the clock is short. We file and defend oppositions as U.S. counsel, admitted in New York.
After examination, the USPTO publishes a mark in the Official Gazette. That publication opens a window in which anyone who believes they would be harmed can oppose registration before the TTAB.
Likelihood of confusion with your earlier mark, mere descriptiveness, lack of distinctiveness, dilution of a famous mark, priority, or bad-faith filing.
The TTAB decides on the papers through the ESTTA system — notice, answer, discovery, testimony and briefs. There is no in-person courtroom trial.
Missed the window? A registered mark can still be challenged through a cancellation proceeding — also before the TTAB, on similar grounds.
A defined sequence with hard deadlines — we manage each stage so nothing lapses.
Filed through ESTTA within 30 days of publication (or within an extension you have secured), stating the grounds and your standing.
The applicant answers within 40 days. The parties exchange initial disclosures, documents and interrogatories, and may take depositions.
Testimony periods, then briefs. The TTAB issues a written decision — sustaining the opposition or allowing the mark to proceed.
Foreign-domiciled parties cannot represent themselves at the USPTO or the TTAB — a U.S.-licensed attorney is mandatory under 37 C.F.R. § 2.11(a).
U.S. trademark attorney · attorney of record on 200+ U.S. trademarks
Submitting an enquiry does not create an attorney–client relationship; that begins only with a written engagement.
Send us the application serial number or the notice you received — we will tell you your options and the timeline.