New TTAB Rule Changes Take Effect In 2017 -

The Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB), which decides issues of trademark registrability, recently sought comments regarding certain rule changes to the TTAB Rules of Practice. On October 7, 2016, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) published Miscellaneous Changes to Trademark Trial and Appeal Board Rules of Practice, 81 Fed. Reg. 69950, formally adopting many of the proposed rule changes (Amended Rules). This is the first proposed major rules change since 2007. The new rules are effective for all cases filed and pending as of January 14, 2017, and may change how trademark litigants approach their cases.