What to Do If You Get a TTAB Notice

Opening an email from the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (the TTAB, the part of the USPTO that hears trademark disputes) is alarming. Someone is challenging your trademark, and there is a real deadline attached. The good news is that a notice is the start of a process, not the end, and most disputes never reach a full trial. This guide explains, in plain English, what the notice means, how long you have, what happens if you ignore it, and what your options actually are.

This is general educational information about U.S. trademark practice, not legal advice. For your specific situation, talk to an attorney licensed in your jurisdiction.

What the notice actually means: opposition vs. cancellation

There are two main kinds of TTAB notice, and which one you got tells you where your mark stands.

A notice of opposition targets a trademark application that has not yet registered. After the USPTO examiner approves an application, the mark is “published for opposition” in the Official Gazette for 30 days. During that window (or an extended one), anyone who believes they would be harmed by the registration can file an opposition. So if you receive a notice of opposition, your mark is still an application, and the challenger is trying to stop it from registering.

A petition to cancel (or petition for cancellation) targets a mark that is already registered. The challenger is asking the Board to cancel an existing registration, in whole or in part. Some grounds for cancellation are only available during the first five years; others, such as the mark becoming generic or being abandoned, can be raised at any time.

In both cases the document is essentially a complaint. It names a plaintiff (the party challenging you), names you as the defendant, and lists the legal grounds, such as likelihood of confusion with the challenger’s earlier mark, descriptiveness, fraud, abandonment, or non-use. The TTAB then sends an institution order that officially starts the proceeding and sets the schedule. To understand where this fits in the broader lifecycle of a registration, see our TTAB and trademark maintenance pillar. For deeper dives on each type, see trademark oppositions and trademark cancellations.

One thing the TTAB does not decide: it cannot award money damages or order anyone to stop using a mark. Its power is over the federal register, meaning whether your mark registers or stays registered. Infringement and damages are separate court matters.

The answer deadline (and ESTTA)

This is the part you cannot afford to get wrong. When the Board institutes the proceeding, it issues an institution order that sets a deadline for you to file your answer.

For proceedings instituted on or after September 4, 2025, the standard time to answer is 60 days from the date of the institution order. This is a recent change. For years the period was 40 days, and you will still see “40 days” in older articles and even some law-firm pages that have not been updated. The TTAB extended it to 60 days in a Federal Register notice tied to a recalculation of response time under the Madrid Protocol. Importantly, the Board reserves the right to set a shorter answer period in a later scheduling order. The practical takeaway is simple: do not trust a number you read online, including this one. Open your institution order, find the answer deadline printed in it, and calendar that exact date.

Your answer is the document where you respond to each numbered allegation, admitting, denying, or stating you lack enough information to answer, and raise any affirmative defenses. You file it electronically through ESTTA, the Electronic System for Trademark Trials and Appeals at the TTAB. ESTTA is mandatory; paper filings are accepted only in narrow emergencies. When you file, you also serve the other side as the rules require.

If you genuinely need more time, you can usually request an extension of time to answer before the deadline passes. Asking early, ideally with the other side’s consent, is far easier than asking for forgiveness after a missed deadline.

What happens if you do nothing

Ignoring a TTAB notice is the single worst move, and people make it because the document looks like junk mail or because they assume it will go away. It will not.

If you file no answer by the deadline, the Board can issue a notice of default, and then enter default judgment against you. In an opposition, default judgment typically means your application is refused and will not register. In a cancellation, it typically means your registration is canceled. You lose by not showing up.

There is a limited safety net. After a notice of default, you can file a motion to set aside the default, but you have to act fast (generally within roughly 30 days) and show good cause, which usually means a reasonable explanation for the delay, that the delay was not willful, and that you have a potentially meritable defense. Courts and the Board are often willing to set aside a default (the entry) more readily than a default judgment (the final decision), which is one more reason to respond before anything is entered. Relying on a set-aside motion is a gamble you do not want to take. Answering on time is dramatically simpler and cheaper.

Your realistic options

Once you understand the deadline, step back and decide how you actually want to handle this. There are several legitimate paths.

• Answer and defend. If you believe the challenge is wrong, file your answer and litigate. This keeps every option open, including settling later, and it stops the default clock. Many cases that start with a vigorous answer still settle months down the road, but you have to be in the case to negotiate from strength.

• Settle or negotiate a consent or coexistence agreement. This is the most common real-world outcome. The parties agree on terms that let both marks exist, for example by limiting your goods or services, agreeing to logo or wording differences, restricting trade channels or geography, or having one side amend its application. A signed consent agreement or coexistence agreement can resolve the dispute and even help overcome the underlying refusal. The Board encourages settlement and builds negotiation time into the schedule; parties can also ask to suspend the proceeding while they talk.

• Abandon or surrender voluntarily. Sometimes the mark is not worth the fight, or you have already decided to rebrand. You can abandon the application (in an opposition) or surrender the registration (in a cancellation). Be aware that abandoning without the other side’s written consent can result in judgment against you, which may carry weight if a related dispute exists, so this is worth discussing with counsel before you sign anything.

• Let it default (deliberately). Occasionally a business no longer cares about the mark at all and simply chooses not to respond. That is a decision, not an accident, and the consequence is default judgment. If you are going to walk away, it is usually cleaner to negotiate a voluntary withdrawal than to no-show, but the option exists.

Which path makes sense depends on how strong the challenge is, how valuable the mark is to you, and your budget. A consultation with an attorney licensed in your jurisdiction is worth it here, because the choice shapes everything that follows.

The road ahead: discovery and trial

If you answer and the case proceeds, a TTAB proceeding runs a lot like a streamlined federal lawsuit, but entirely on paper. There is no in-person courtroom trial.

Shortly after the answer, the parties must hold a discovery conference to discuss the claims, defenses, and settlement (the Board sets a deadline for this, often within the first few weeks). Then comes a discovery period, where each side can request documents, send written questions (interrogatories), ask the other party to admit facts, and take depositions. Expert disclosures follow.

After discovery closes, the case moves into trial phases, called testimony periods. Instead of live witnesses before a judge, each party submits evidence and testimony (by declaration or deposition transcript) during its assigned period: the plaintiff first, then the defendant, then a short rebuttal. After the evidence is in, both sides file trial briefs, oral argument can be requested, and a panel of TTAB judges issues a written decision, currently around 10 weeks after the case is ready for decision. The whole process commonly takes well over a year, which is a big reason so many parties settle along the way.

If you disagree with the final decision, there are appeal routes, generally to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit or by a new civil action in federal district court.

For real-world examples of how these disputes play out, browse the trademark case archive.

The bottom line

A TTAB notice is serious but manageable. Start by finding the one number that matters, the answer deadline in your institution order (generally 60 days for proceedings instituted on or after September 4, 2025, though the order controls and the Board can shorten it). File your answer through ESTTA, or affirmatively choose another path: settle, negotiate a coexistence agreement, or withdraw. Whatever you do, do not let the deadline pass in silence, because the default judgment that follows means losing without a fight. Move early, keep your options open, and get advice tailored to your situation.

This article is general educational information about U.S. trademark practice and the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board. It is not legal advice, does not create an attorney-client relationship, and is not a solicitation for legal services. Deadlines and procedures change and depend on the specific order in your case. For guidance on your own matter, consult an attorney licensed in your jurisdiction.