On September 1, the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) affirmed the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board’s (TTAB’s) cancellation of a trademark owned by Sweet 16 Musical Properties (Sweet 16), concluding that there is no Appointments Clause issue with the TTAB…. On appeal, Sweet 16 raised a constitutional challenge to the composition of the TTAB panel that decided their case. Sweet 16 argued that the administrative trademark judges (ATJs) who sat on the panel were appointed in violation of the Appointments Clause of Article II of the U.S. Constitution, and therefore the TTAB’s decision must be vacated. The acting Director of the USPTO, as intervenor, asserted that the ATJs were appointed lawfully.
Litigation
- How Patent Owners Should Be Rethinking Venue Selection and Case Strategy in a World Without Waco
- Amicus Brief Backing Inventor’s Eligibility Petition to SCOTUS Says 101 Exceptions Constitute ‘Judicial Legislation’
- Miami Beware: Patent Clouds Are Quickly Approaching the Sunshine State
- CAFC Affirms Water Heater Infringement Ruling Based on District Court Claim Construction
- CAFC Upholds PTAB’s Finding that Samsung Failed to Prove Magnetic Stripe Emulator Claims Obvious
Recent Posts
- The Copyright Claims Board: A Venue for Pursuing Actual or Statutory Damages Impacting Both Registered and Unregistered Works
- IP Goes Pop! – Intellectual Property and a ‘Wacky’ Professor – Brands and Inventions in the Springfield Universe, Part II
- How Patent Owners Should Be Rethinking Venue Selection and Case Strategy in a World Without Waco
- Amicus Brief Backing Inventor’s Eligibility Petition to SCOTUS Says 101 Exceptions Constitute ‘Judicial Legislation’
- Other Barks & Bites for Friday, August 12: Canada to Add Resale Royalties to Copyright Law, Fifth Circuit Affirms Exclusion of Evidence in ‘Call of Duty’ Copyright Suit, and Ninth Circuit Rejects Trademark Appeal in Yoga Pants Case