Hurdles To Bringing A U.S. Trademark Proceeding

A foreign or domestic complainant in an opposition, cancellation or other proceeding against a U.S. trademark application or registration must have an interest that affects U.S. interstate or foreign commerce. This is commonly called having "standing." Normally, this is a low threshold, but you can trip over it, especially if you are a non-U.S. complainant.

A Saudi Arabian trading company petitioned the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) to cancel a U.S. registration of FLASH & Design for a variety of cleaning compounds.

The Petitioner claimed that the Registrant had relied on its U.S. registration in seeking to cancel Petitioner's two Saudi Arabian registrations of FIGHTER FLASH & Design.