The Trademark Trial and Appeal Board will implement several important rule changes as of Jan. 14, 2017. The changes will apply to all proceedings active as of that date as well as those subsequently filed.
The US Patent and Trademark Office summarizes the purpose of the rule changes as an effort “to benefit the public by providing for more efficiency and clarity in inter partes and ex parte proceedings.” The amendments “are directed to reducing the burden on the parties, to conforming the rules to current practice, to updating references that have changed, to reflecting technologic changes, and to ensuring the usage of standard, current terminology.”