A tip of the fedora to FOTTABlog Erik M. Pelton, who once again provides a report (here) on the latest meeting of the Trademark Public Advisory Committee (a/k/a TPAC). Note particularly the slides provided at the end of Erik’s blog post.
With regard to our favorite tribunal, TTAB Chief Administrative Trademark Judge Gerard Rogers reported the following:
- The latest TTAB pendency statistics were reviewed (see slides), showing that pendency times in general continue to decrease.
- New proceeding filings at the TTAB are up considerably in FY2016, including Notice of Opposition filings up 11%.
- New TTAB Judge Christopher Larkin begins work this week.
- The TTAB rulemaking package will be issued this month, with an effective date of January 14, 2017.
- The new rules will apply to all cases, with judges having discretion where needed in applying them to pre-existing cases.
- The new rules retain the Board processes considered significant by the Supreme Court last year in B&B Hardware.