Precedential No. 20: TTAB Enters Judgment Due to Defendant's Blatant Failure to Comply with Board Order

WYHDTP? If you were a TTAB judge, would you have deemed this precedential? The Board entered judgment against Applicant/Respondent Donnell Mitchell in view of his failure to comply with a Board Order compelling discovery. MySpace, Inc. v. Donnell Mitchell, 91 USPQ2d 1060 (TTAB 2009) [precedential].

[D]efendant's only response to plaintiff's renewed request for the sanction of judgment is a statement that he had complied or tried to comply with the Board's order. However, that response is belied by the fact that the only thing defendant has done is to re-send his own discovery requests and to continue personal attacks on plaintiff's counsel. In view of our previous warning that we would enter judgment unless he complied with our order and his continued blatant non-compliance, the sanction of entry of judgment is now warranted.

TTABlog note: For a more interesting angle on this strange story, see this posting at the Las Vegas Trademark Attorney blog.

Text Copyright John L. Welch 2009.