ILMA Compoundings - February 2021 - 27

WASHINGTON LANDSCAPE

Trademark Modernization
Act Is Win for Mark Holders
By Matthew Levetown

T

he Trademark Modernization
Act of 2020 (TM Act) was
a bipartisan amendment to
the 5,600-page appropriations and
COVID -19 relief law enacted last
December and was a holiday gift for
trademark holders. The TM Act fixes
longstanding issues in protecting
trademarks by formalizing the " protest
letter " procedure to object to pending
trademark applications, codifying a
presumption of irreparable harm when
seeking injunctive relief and creating
a " use it or lose it " process to remove
unused marks from the U.S. Patent
and Trademark Office's (USPTO)
trademark register.
As a bit of background, to obtain and
protect a trademark, a mark must be
used " in commerce. " When submitting
a domestic trademark application to the
USPTO, there are two filing options

- either an " in use " or a " bona fide
intent to use. " When filing an in-use
application, the registrant must include
an example of the mark's actual use in
commerce. An intent-to-use application cannot grant registration of a mark
but instead allows time to introduce
products or services in commerce, and
registration is completed via amendment of the application with proof of
use in commerce.
LETTERS OF PROTEST
The TM Act formalizes the letters
of protest system for trademark
applications, which allows anyone
to challenge a trademark application currently under review by the
USPTO. This system is helpful for
existing trademark holders who want
to challenge an application, as it can
potentially block registration of a
trademark without having to resort to

either the Trademark Trial and Appeals
Board (TTAB) or the court system.
Under the new process, anyone may
submit evidence of why an application
should be rejected for a currently
set fee of $50. The director of the
trademark office then determines
whether to introduce the evidence
into the application record, which
could lead to outright rejection of
a pending application. Pending
applications may be denied for a
number of reasons, including possible
confusion to the consumer or dilution
of a trademark. A personal favorite
was an application by a beverage
company to use " L'Oreal Paris " to
sell aloe vera drinks. Formalizing
the protest procedure will likely save
time and money for registered mark
holders who otherwise need to resort
to after-registration legal procedures.
PRESUMPTION OF HARM
Arguably the most important change
created by the TM Act is the codification of a presumption of harm for
registrants trying to protect their mark
via injunctions. In order to rebut a presumption of harm, an alleged infringer
must show that the mark would not
lead to harm by confusing consumers
or diluting the mark. A 2006 Supreme
Court decision caused a split in the
lower courts over whether a trademark
holder is entitled to a presumption of
harm, leading to challenges for mark
holders in some courts. Plaintiffs
needed to allege sufficiently that an
infringing mark will cause harm, which
Continued on page 28

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ILMA Compoundings - February 2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of ILMA Compoundings - February 2021

ILMA Compoundings - February 2021 - Cover1
ILMA Compoundings - February 2021 - Cover2
ILMA Compoundings - February 2021 - 1
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