On Monday, March 7, 2016, the Supreme Court denied the petition for a writ of certiorari filed by Milo Shammas in Shammas v. Hirschfeld, formerly known as Shammas v. Focarino. Shammas sought to overturn a ruling of the Fourth Circuit that in a Section 1071(b) civil action for review of an ex parte TTAB decision, the plaintiff/applicant must pay the PTO’s expenses (including attorney and paralegal fees), win or lose (allegedly contrary to the “American Rule”).
