Stoller Trustee Consents to Dismissal of "GOOGLE" Cancellation, With Prejudice

TTAB decisions are trickling out at a pathetic pace. What's a TTABLogger to do? If that wasn't annoying enough, the Board apparently has ceased issuing a weekly chart of its final decisions. Instead it is offering a new search engine (here) that one may peruse for the latest rulings: it's called the "USPTO eFOIA page." [This is not a particularly user-friendly search engine; in fact, it's a bit of a pain in the neck. E.g., why isn't the default "TTAB Decision" rather than "Cancellation?"] In any case, with so few Board decisions being issued these days (as a search of the USPTO eFOIA page will show), we might as well check up on Leo Stoller and his activities.


You may recall that a Stoller company called Central Mfg Co. (Inc.) filed a "quixotic" petition for cancellation of Registration No. 2,806,075 for the mark GOOGLE for search engine services. (See TTABlog posting here). A check on the status of that proceeding reveals that the Trustee of Stoller's bankruptcy estate recently stipulated to a dismissal with prejudice in a filing dated December 8th. (here).

"With the consent of Registrant/Respondent, Petitioner, by and through Richard M. Fogel, not individually but as Chapter 7 Trustee duly authorized by Order of the United States Bankruptcy Court of the Northern District of Illinois to act on behalf of Petitioner herein ... hereby withdraws and dismisses with prejudice the Petition for Cancellation in this proceeding. All pending motions are hereby withdrawn and deemed moot."

The dismissal was signed by Trustee Fogel and by Google, Inc.'s counsel. Under Rule 41(a)(1), Fed. R. Civ. P., that stipulated dismissal should automatically terminate the case without the need for further Board action.

So much for Mr. Stoller's challenge to the GOOGLE registration.

Text Copyright John L. Welch 2006.