TTAB fast-tracks COVID TM reviews
The Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) will start expediting the review and issuance of ex parte appeal decisions related to COVID-19 trademarks.
The pilot prioritised review programme aims to speed up the appeal decisions for COVID-related applications to six months from filing.
Certain applicants for COVID-related trademark applications can now submit petitions to advance the initial examination with the TTAB. Fees for the petitions will also be waived, according to the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).
The pilot programme is an extension of the USPTO’s COVID-19 Prioritised Trademark Examination Program launched in June 2020.
Specifically, eligible applications for the pilot programme include: “Pharmaceutical products or medical devices such as diagnostic tests, ventilators, and personal protective equipment, including surgical masks, face shields, gowns, and gloves, that prevent, diagnose, treat, or cure COVID-19 and are subject to approval by the United States Food and Drug Administration,” according to the USPTO.
Those seeking reviews for trademarks related to “medical services or medical research services for the prevention, diagnosis, treatment of, or cure for COVID-19,” are also eligible.
The USPTO will also be launching a Conference Pilot Programme for Oppositions Against Applications Related to COVID-19.
This will allow any TTAB attorney or judge to participate in the parties’ “mandatory settlement and discovery planning conference,” if the application examined is under the COVID-19 Prioritized Trademark Examination Program.
