USPTO implements the Trademark Modernization Act

Regulations implementing the Trademark Modernization Act of 2020 (TMA) will go into effect on December 18, 2021. Individuals, businesses, and the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) will now have new tools to clear away unused registered trademarks from the federal trademark register as of December 18, 2021, and the USPTO will have the ability to move applications through the registration process more efficiently as of December 1, 2022.

The new ex parte expungement and reexamination proceedings provide a faster, more efficient, and less expensive alternative to a contested inter partes cancelation proceeding at the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB).

Read the final rule to learn more about these changes, and visit the USPTO’s new Trademark Modernization Act webpage for more information.