101.01    Statute and Rules of Practice

All proceedings before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board ("Board") are governed by the Lanham Trademark Act of 1946, as amended, ("Trademark Act"), 15 U.S.C. § 1051  et seq.; the rules of practice in trademark cases (commonly known as the Trademark Rules of Practice), which may be found in Parts 2 and 7 of Title 37 of the Code of Federal Regulations ("C.F.R."); the rules pertaining to assignments in trademark cases, which may be found in Parts 3 and 7 of 37 C.F.R.; and the rules relating to the conduct of practitioners and the representation of others before the United States Patent and Trademark Office ("USPTO") which may be found in Part 11 of 37 C.F.R. The USPTO rules governing procedure in inter partes proceedings before the Board are adapted, in large part, from the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, with modifications due primarily to the administrative nature of Board proceedings. [ Note 1.]

A copy of Title 37 of the C.F.R. may be obtained at a nominal cost from the U.S. Government Publishing Office, U.S. Government Bookstore, https://bookstore.gpo.gov/. An electronic version of Title 37 of the C.F.R. may be found online at the Government Publishing Office resource website through: https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-37. A USPTO-created compilation of the Trademark Act and rules can be accessed and downloaded from the USPTO website at: https://www.uspto.gov/sites/default/files/documents/tmlaw.pdf. That compilation was created for the public’s convenience and is not meant to serve as an official legal source. Those using that compilation for legal research should verify their results against the most current official printed editions of the C.F.R. and United States Code, published Public Laws, and the daily Federal Register, as applicable.

Information regarding proposed and final rule changes to Title 37 is also posted on the USPTO website at https://www.uspto.gov/trademark/trademark-updates-and-announcements/recent-and-upcoming-statutory-and-regulatory-changes.

NOTES:

 1.   Yamaha International Corp. v. Hoshino Gakki Co., 840 F.2d 1572, 6 USPQ2d 1001, 1004 (Fed. Cir. 1988).