Petition for Cancellation of Trademark Registration

Trademark cancellation is the legal process of removing a registered trademark from the books. This allows the trademark to be registered by another party.

Trademark cancellation is a legal argument under the Lanham Act. Its purpose is to allow a party to petition for removal of a trademark from the federal register. This is done by filing a Petition to Cancel, which is usually argued before the TTAB, or Trademark Trial and Appeal Board. In some cases, the argument can be litigated in federal court, and the courts can also cancel a mark in such a circumstance.

To cancel a trademark, the petitioner must prove that the mark will cause harm if it is not canceled. Because the petitioner only has to prove that damages may occur and not that it has occurred, this is not as difficult as it may at first seem.

Generally, the TTAB concerns itself with trademark owners trying to stop legitimate competition through misuse of its mark. Thousands of cancellation requests are filed every year.