Trademark Trial and Appeal Board

News & notices

• ESTTA enhancements: ESTTA received the following enhancements on Saturday, August 11:

  • Simplified Consent Motion form that displays the current proceeding schedule - NOTE: Proceeding schedule date(s) expiring on weekends or holidays: We are aware that the consent motions form will not allow filers to extend this date (or dates) the next business day as allowed by Trademark Rule 2.196. We expect to have a system solution in place sometime in 2019.  In the meantime, please use the consent motions form, prior to the expiration of this date(s) or, use the alternative scheduling form, attaching a proceeding schedule in the form of a trial order, under File Documents in a Board proceeding, General Filings option.  The Board regrets this inconvenience.
  • New filing options under the Request for Extension of Time to Oppose form
  • Additional proceeding status indicators in TTABVUE

Get details about the enhancements, including form tips and previews. The ESTTA help file has also been improved, and two new webpages are available under the "Online systems" section of TTAB's webpage.

• Monitor TTABVUE: Most submissions from the Electronic System for Trademark Trials and Appeals (ESTTA) are automatically uploaded to the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board Inquiry System (TTABVUE). However, system errors do occasionally occur and could cause major delays in instituting your TTAB proceeding. When you file in ESTTA, monitor TTABVUE to make sure your submission is uploaded. If you don’t see your submission a week after you file, contact TTAB for assistance, 571-272-8500, Mon-Fri 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. ET.

• TTAB Stakeholders: A transcript of the September 25, 2017 roundtable on streamlined cancellation is now available. The USPTO hosted a public meeting to report out on the comments to the TTAB's Request for Comments on possible streamlined version of cancellation proceedings on the grounds of abandonment and non-use, for which the comment period closed on August 14, 2017. Additionally, the TTAB took the opportunity to update the public on developments with regard to the amended Trademark Rules, effective January 14, 2017. The meeting agenda included a summary report on received comments and involved discussion of topics of interest to the audience and those that appeared necessary to address in view of the comments.

• TTAB Dashboard: Updated quarterly, our dashboard displays current proceeding pendency. Send comments to TTABdashboard@uspto.gov.

The TTAB is an administrative board that hears and decides adversary proceedings between two parties, namely, oppositions (party opposes a mark after publication in the Official Gazette ) and cancellations (party seeks to cancel an existing registration). The TTAB also handles interference and concurrent use proceedings, as well as appeals of final refusals issued by USPTO Trademark Examining Attorneys within the course of the prosecution of trademark applications.

The Chief Administrative Trademark Judge is Gerard F. Rogers. The TTAB Video, No. 13, provides an overview of proceedings before the TTAB.

The Trademark Trial and Appeal Board Manual of Procedure

The TBMP provides practitioners with basic information generally useful for litigating cases before the TTAB. The manual does not modify, amend, or serve as a substitute for any existing statutes, rules, or decisional law and is not binding upon the TTAB, its reviewing courts, the Director of the USPTO, or any part of the USPTO. Rather, the TBMP merely describes current practice and procedure under the applicable authority, as of the manual's issue date.

The most recent version of the TBMP may be accessed from the TTAB website under "Policies, Procedures and FAQs." Earlier editions of the TBMP are posted under TTAB Manual of Procedure "TBMP" archives in the Archives section of this page.

Electronic System for Trademark Trial and Appeals "ESTTA"

Use ESTTA to institute new TTAB proceedings and file documents in existing TTAB proceedings online. Filing online using ESTTA is mandatory for TTAB proceedings. SYSTEM AVAILABILITY: Check current system status and planned outages before beginning the filing process. Because unexpected problems can occur, you should keep filing deadlines in mind and allow plenty of time to resolve any issue which might arise. The Board will provide general assistance to ESTTA filers (see contact information below), but we cannot guarantee that any problem will be resolved prior to a deadline.   Submissions filed in paper form are permitted only when ESTTA is unavailable due to technical problems, or when extraordinary circumstances are present. Users should not anticipate that the Board will extend a deadline because it was not possible to submit a filing by ESTTA on the due date.

A paper-filed request for extension of time to file an opposition, a notice of opposition, a petition to cancel, or answer requires a petition to the Director and the requisite petition fee, while other paper-filed submissions require only an explanation of the technical difficulties or extraordinary circumstances.  

Requests for time extensions to oppose Madrid Protocol-based applications or oppositions thereto cannot be filed in paper form under any circumstances.

View ESTTA technical requirements and pre-filing information and get help on choosing your ESTTA form.

Trademark Trial and Appeal Board Inquiry System "TTABVUE"

Use TTABVUE to view a TTAB proceeding file by entering the proceeding number, or search for proceedings by application number, registration number, mark, party, correspondent.

Attachments submitted by the public may not be accessible to individuals using assistive technology. If you cannot access any content due to a disability or have any questions, please contact the TTAB Assistance Center by email at TTABInfo@uspto.gov or phone at 571-272-8500, Mon-Fri between 8:30 a.m. and 5 p.m. ET for assistance. TTAB will make every attempt to make the content accessible and ensure the quality and formatting is the same as the original version. However, TTAB cannot guarantee that the attachments will be accessible or that there will not be any discrepancies after making the content accessible. Please visit USPTO’s Accessibility web page for more information.

Contact Information

Phone: 571-272-8500, Hours of Operation: Monday through Friday 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. ET  
Email: TTABInfo@uspto.gov (General Information about TTAB proceedings)
Email: ESTTA@uspto.gov (Technical assistance with ESTTA filings)

Official Mailing Address:  
Trademark Trial and Appeal Board
U.S. Patent and Trademark Office
P.O. Box 1451
Alexandria, VA 22313-1451

For delivery via FedEx, UPS, etc.:
Trademark Trial and Appeal Board
U.S. Patent and Trademark Office
Madison East, Concourse Level Room C 55
600 Dulany Street
Alexandria, VA 22314