No Joy in Leoville: PTO Cancels 34 "STEALTH" Registrations

The USPTO has now implemented the Order of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, cancelling 34 registrations for the mark STEALTH and variations thereof, owned by Leo Stoller's company, Central Mfg. Co.

Leo Stoller
For a partial history of the Pure Fishing lawsuit that led to these cancellations, follow the blogging trail from here. Stoller appealed from the federal court's October 4, 2006 Order requiring cancellation of the registrations, but he failed to timely file his brief, leading to dismissal of the appeal for want of prosecution on February 12, 2007. The Court of Appeals issued its Mandate on March 8, 2007.

Stoller petitioner for a writ of certiorari from the U.S. Supreme Court, but his petition was denied in early June.


TTABlog comment: As previously mentioned, the cancellation of these registrations does not, of course, prevent Stoller and his companies from claiming common law rights in the STEALTH mark, but common law rights require proof of use. Gone are the presumptions that accompany the registrations, and proof of rights in the STEALTH mark will require Mr. Stoller and his company to provide real evidence. That should make things interesting.

Text Copyright John L. Welch 2007.