Erik Pelton Reports on September 2nd TPAC Meeting

Erik Pelton reports here on the September 2nd meeting of the Trademark Public Advisory Committee (TPAC). [Transcript of meeting here].


Concerning our favorite tribunal, Erik indicates that Acting Chief Judge Rogers provided the following items of interest:

• Updates to the TTAB Manual of Procedure (“TBMP”) are continuing, and the revised TBMP will hopefully be publicly available in early 2011.


• TTAB case filings are down (Third Quarter FY10 compared to Third Quarter FY09: Ex Parte Appeals down 20%, new Oppositions down 16%, new Cancellations down 15%).


• TTAB case pendency continues to grow. Average length of trial cases going all the way to final decision which were decided in Q3 FY10 was 260 weeks [exactly 5 years], with a median figure of 183 weeks.


• The TTAB may soon implement a pilot program regarding judge participation in settlement discussions. The pilot would involve those TTAB cases which have been suspended for settlement discussions for the longest periods of time.

For more details, see Erik's report.

Text Copyright John L. Welch 2010.