Failure to Prove Standing Leads to Denial of ZOCY Cancellation Petition

Shanghai Y&A Garment petitioned for cancellation of a registration for the mark ZOCY for "jump ropes" on the ground of nonuse, but it failed to prove its entitlement to a statutory cause of action (i.e., its "standing"). Shanghai alleged certain facts in the petition for cancellation but submitted no evidence to support its claim of standing. Shanghai Y&A Garment Co., Ltd. v. Mango Republic LLC, Cancellation No. 92086279 [not precedential] (Opinion by Judge Robert Lavache).

In the petition for cancellation, Shanghai alleged that it has a "real interest" in this proceeding and a reasonable belief that it is being and will be damaged by the registration because it sells various products, including jump ropes, in e-commerce under the mark ZOCY. It also alleged that it plans to file an application to register the ZOCY mark for jump ropes. Shanghai repeated those allegations in its brief on appeal. However, it failed to properly submit any evidence in support of those allegations, and, as the Board noted, "[a]ttorney argument is no substitute for evidence.")

Again, the record here consists only of Respondent’s involved registration file and the parties’ pleadings. And Respondent’s answer does not contain any admissions that would establish Petitioner’s entitlement to a statutory cause of action. On the contrary, Respondent specifically denies Petitioner’s allegations concerning entitlement.

The requirement to establish an entitlement to a statutory cause of action is "a low threshold, intended only to ensure that the plaintiff has a real interest in the matter, and is not a mere intermeddler." "Nonetheless, given Petitioner’s failure to provide any evidence of its entitlement to a statutory cause of action, let alone establish a preponderance of the evidence, we find Petitioner unsuccessful in crossing even that low threshold."

And so, the Board denied the petition for cancellation.

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TTABlogger comment: Could opposer cure the lack of evidence problem by instituting a civil action for review under Section 1071, wherein additional evidence may be introduced into the record?

Text Copyright John L. Welch 2026.