Pryor Cashman Counsel Ryan Klarberg, a member of the Intellectual Property, Media + Entertainment, Digital Media, and Litigation Groups, spoke with Law360 about the potential impacts of a Federal Circuit Court ruling on the future of disputes heard by the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB).
In "Is Conceptual Change Coming To The TTAB?," Ryan discusses the potential complexity and expense of proving "non-use" of a trademark as part of TTAB proceedings:
"That's something that certainly only certain opposers or applicants, for that matter, have the ability to afford," says Ryan S. Klarberg, a lawyer at Pryor Cashman LLP who has represented names like Lady Gaga and the Supreme fashion brand in front of the trademark board.
But Klarberg says the ruling gives lawyers some new clarity about the value of digging up similar trademarks in TTAB disputes and leveling them against trademark owners.
"Questions about the probative value of such evidence has kind of been up in the air until this decision," he says. "It demonstrates that there's a clear shift in how future opposition and cancellation proceedings may go forward."
Klarberg is optimistic that getting some new legal clarity on what these kinds of trademarks mean at the board will be a big deal in how valuable they are, even outside of the context of opposition hearings.
"I think this will impact not just opposition proceedings, but cancellation proceedings [too]; certainly they often cover the same issues, like likelihood of confusion," he says.
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Originally published by Law360.
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