Can you get money in a TTAB trademark proceeding?
No, you cannot get money in a TTAB trademark opposition or cancellation. The Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) at the USPTO does not have the authority to award monetary relief in trademark proceedings.
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What is the point of a TTAB trademark case if you cannot get money?
TTAB proceedings are not about trademark infringement. Trademark oppositions and cancellations all have to do with the issue of registration. In a trademark opposition, the parties fight about whether a particular mark should be entitled to registration. In a trademark cancellation, the parties fight about whether a registered trademark should be canceled or partially canceled.
Can you get attorney’s fees awarded in a TTAB trademark case?
No, the TTAB does not have the authority to award any monetary sanctions or attorney’s fees. However, the Board may enter a number of non-monetary sanctions.
What are the consequences of ignoring or losing a TTAB case?
The TTAB makes no decisions on the issue of infringement. It can, therefore, be tempting to simply ignore a trademark opposition or cancellation. The problem, however, is that losing a TTAB case can come back to bite you. A winner in a TTAB case can piggyback off that victory in, for example, a subsequent trademark lawsuit in federal court.
Any monetary benefits to owning a trademark registration without litigation?
One can argue that there are monetary benefits to owning trademark registrations that do not require litigation. Perhaps, one of the biggest benefits of registering a trademark is that the USPTO becomes an ally in blocking similar marks from being registered.
Experienced trademark lawyers may tell you that the USPTO can often be overreaching in using registered trademarks to block trademark applications on the basis of likelihood of confusion.
