Institutions

The USPTO

The US patent and trade mark office. Its administrative tribunal, the TTAB, decides who has the right to register a sign — not who has the right to use it.

In brief

An agency of the Department of Commerce, headquartered in Alexandria (Virginia); more than 14,000 staff; entirely funded by fees paid by applicants.
Legal basis for trade marks: the Lanham Act of 1946 (15 U.S.C. § 1051 et seq.).
TTAB (Trademark Trial and Appeal Board): the administrative trade mark tribunal — oppositions, cancellation petitions, appeals against refusals of registration.
Each case is heard by at least three members of the TTAB (15 U.S.C. § 1067).
⚠️ Essential limitation: the TTAB rules only on the right to registration. No infringement, no damages, no injunction — those are matters for the federal courts.

The distinction is constantly blurred in the press. Losing before the TTAB is not losing the right to use a sign: it is losing the right to register it, or seeing a registration cancelled. Use, infringement and compensation are litigated elsewhere, before the federal courts.

The same confusion surrounded the European case Big Mac v. Supermac's, decided by an equivalent body, the EUIPO: a partial revocation was presented as the loss of the Big Mac, which it was not.

Sources

External sources.

About Us — United States Patent and Trademark Office
15 U.S.C. § 1067 — Interference; Trademark Trial and Appeal Board — Cornell Legal Information Institute

Where this comes up in the case file

ArticleWho owns the “Mc” prefix?

Other glossary entries — Institutions

The European Court of Human Rights The Court of Cassation The court of appeal The commercial court The Court of Justice of the European Union The EUIPO

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