Trademark Requests for Reconsideration and Appeals

Posted Monday, August 24, 2009 by Katie Long.

Upon receipt of a final refusal, a trademark applicant may file a Request for Reconsideration with the examining attorney, or an Appeal with the Trademark Trial and Appeals Board (TTAB). An office action is considered final when the examining attorney has issued the same refusal twice on the same application. All evidence argued during an Appeal must be part of the record, ie: submitted during responses to Office Actions and Requests for Reconsideration. Both a Request for Reconsideration and an Appeal must be filed within six months of the date of the final refusal. An applicant should consider filing both a Request for Reconsideration as well a Notice of Appeal during the allotted time period. The filing fee for the notice of Appeal is $100, and the Appeal proceeding is suspended pending the outcome of the Request for Reconsideration. If the examining attorney rules in the applicant’s favor on the Request for Reconsideration, the application will advance to the next phase of the application process. If the applicant’s Request for Reconsideration fails, the applicant has secured its position in the Appeals process.

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