[E-trademarks] Options for Challenging Stalled TM Application
Ken Boone
boondogles at hotmail.com
Mon Jun 30 22:12:23 UTC 2025
I'm looking for a list of maybe 90 stalled applications from about 8 months ago, but that would just be a small sample of the stalled application problem. Here are some searches that indicate the magnitude of the stalled application problem is significantly larger.
#
Search
Trademarks
1
( SN:( /<79000000-79414230>/ ) OR (FD:[* TO 20250102] NOT SN:79*) ) AND SA:("new application in the record" AND "not assignment to examin" ) COM:"New Apps Without EA"
30,364
1a
( 1 ) AND ( FD:[* TO 20201231] ) COM:"Calendar Year___2020 or earlier"
200
1b
( 1 ) AND ( FD:[20210101 TO 20211231] ) COM:" Calendar Year 2021"
4,799
1c
( 1 ) AND ( FD:[20220101 TO 20221231] ) COM:" Calendar Year 2022"
6,361
1d
( 1 ) AND ( FD:[20230101 TO 20231231] ) COM:" Calendar Year 2023"
12,027
1e
( 1 ) AND ( FD:[20240101 TO 20241231] ) COM:" Calendar Year 2024"
6,858
1f
( 1 ) AND ( FD:[20250101 TO 20251231] ) COM:" Calendar Year 2025"
118
The USPTO now boasts
We are currently examining new applications submitted between:
January 03, 2025 - January 17, 2025.
The first search is intended to find all live applications received at the USPTO prior to 3 January 2025 that have the new application awaiting assignment to an examining attorney status on TSDR, returning 30,364 trademarks. The subsequent searches segments those 30,364 trademarks by filing date calendar year. Well, sort of. As it happens, 79383109 is retrieved by the first search but the USPTO has yet to load the filing date for that application, so the filing date range searches fail to locate that application by filing date.
I exported the 188 trademarks of the last search to obtain the serial numbers. In sort order, the search SN:( 98919482 98927535 98932352 98932366 98932501 98932800 98932823 98932946 98932968 98932980 98932984 98933015 98933020 98933021 98933026 98933035 98933039 98933044 98933049 98933066 98933067 98933073 98933085 98933097 98933099 98933117 98933124 98933138 98933150 98933150 98933155 98933157 98933164 98933166 98933170 98933171 98933187 98933192 98933199 98933207 98933207 98933220 98933224 98933233 98933233 98933242 98933245 98933246 98933260 98933265 98933273 98933327 98933327 98933343 98933343 98933351 98933357 98933358 98933360 98933367 98933367 98933384 98933410 98933410 98933417 98933429 98933434 98933438 98933461 98933464 98933467 98933508 98933528 98933534 98933534 98933567 98933570 98933574 98933579 98933591 98933593 98933615 98933624 98933624 98933635 98933687 98933695 98933696 98933696 98933742 98933747 98933747 98933750 98933750 98933758 98933760 98933766 98933766 98933777 98933792 98933792 98933801 98933868 98933899 98933899 98933913 98933922 98933931 98933970 98934014 98934026 98934026 98934186 98934186 98934343 98934608 98934655 98934655 ) was supposed to retrieve those 118 trademarks for calendar year 2025 that were filed prior to 3 January 2025 but still await assignment to examining attorneys. Unfortunately, Trademark Search still has some bugs. In this case, serial numbers 98933150 98933207 98933233 98933327 98933343 98933367 98933410 98933534 98933624 98933696 98933747 98933750 98933766 98933792 98933899 98934026 98934186 98934655 were repeated in the Excel file of 118 trademarks for the last search. So it goes. I highlighted a few of the duplicates. But since I've provided the searches, you can easily repeat my search session and generate your own lists.
Now, back to searching my E-Trademarks archive for that 8-month old list of about 90 stalled trademarks.
Ken Boone
PS - Yes, the searches above are from my Quality Control Checks Using Trademark Search strategy. Here's my current Quality Control Checks Using Trademark Search report.
#
QC Search
Today
5/22
Change
1
SN:( /<79000000-79414230>/ ) AND MD:unknown AND LD:true COM:"Madrids received prior to 01/03/2025 but SKIPPED BY Pre-Exam"
519
38
481
2
FD:[* TO 20250102] AND MD:unknown AND LD:true NOT (SN:79* SN:89* ) COM:"US filings prior to 01/03/2025 THAT PRE-EXAM SKIPPED!"
433
332
101
3
( SN:( /<79000000-79414230>/ ) OR (FD:[* TO 20250102] NOT SN:79*) ) AND LD:true NOT ON:* COM:"Older TMs Without Owners?"
9
13
-4
4
( SN:( /<79000000-79414230>/ ) OR (FD:[* TO 20250102] NOT SN:79* ) ) AND LD:true NOT (GS:* SN:89*) COM:"OLD TMs WITHOUT GS!"
38
31
7
5
LD:true NOT FD:* COMMENT:"Live But No Filing Date - 79383109 97977833 98703671"
3
5
-2
6
LR:true NOT LD:true Comment:"Live Registrations But Actually Dead"
0
20
-20
7
SN:( 79391101 79384354 79366512 79336276 79331990 79310411 79294737 79294728 79107274 79105611 79099220 79090344 79078161 97097395 79119135 79271914 97196100 79158147 79078076 97978973 90661045 79110093 97652648 85805847 79136585 ) AND LD:true AND WD:( /.*\?.*/ ) COM:"TMs having unexpected ? in wordmark!"
19
19
0
8
LD:true AND MD:(*1* *3* *4* *5* ) NOT ( WD:* FM:* ) COM:"Missing Wordmark or inappropriate MDC"
61
37
24
9
DC:( 030116 ) AND DD:( "heads of cats" ) AND LD:true COM:"Design Code 03.01.16 is NOT in DSCM!"
5
5
0
10
LD:true AND MD:*1* AND FD:[20031102 TO *] COM:"New Typed Drawings That Should Be Standard Character Marks"
7
4
3
11
WD:( *©* *�* *²* *³* *•* *¹* *¼* *½* *¾* *™* *¦* *¯* *†* *‡* *ˆ* *®* ) AND LD:true AND MD:(TYPED STANDARD) COM:"INVALID STANDARD CHARACTERS IN SCM!"
30
28
2
12
LD:true AND ( CM:( *é* *â* *ê* ** ** ** ** ** ) OW:( *é* *â* *ê* ** ** ** ** ** ) GS:( *é* *â* *ê* ** ** ** ** ** ) DE:( *é* *â* *ê* ** ** ** ** ** ) DS:( *é* *â* *ê* ** ** ** ** ** ) OD:( *é* *â* *ê* ** ** ** ** ** ))
137
142
-5
13
WD:"the mark consists" AND MD:standard AND LD:true
9
14
-5
14
( SN:( /<79000000-79414230>/ ) OR (FD:[* TO 20250102] NOT SN:79*) ) AND SA:("new application in the record" AND "not assignment to examin" ) COM:"New Apps Without EA"
30364
28938
1426
14a
( 14 ) AND ( FD:[* TO 20201231] ) COM:" <= 2020"
200
201
-1
14b
( 14 ) AND ( FD:[20210101 TO 20211231] ) COM:" 2021"
4799
4805
-6
14c
( 14 ) AND ( FD:[20220101 TO 20221231] ) COM:" 2022"
6361
6370
-9
14d
( 14 ) AND ( FD:[20230101 TO 20231231] ) COM:" 2023"
12027
12132
-105
14e
( 14 ) AND ( FD:[20240101 TO 20241231] ) COM:" 2024"
6858
5429
1429
14f
( 14 ) AND ( FD:[20250101 TO 20251231] ) COM:" 2025"
118
0
118
The 5th search indicates 97977833 is live on Trademark Search, yet TSDR show this trademark is dead with the Application is void because it did not meet minimum filing date requirements -Serial number was assigned in error status. Odd that Trademark Search and TSDR disagree about the status of this trademark. Makes you wonder how many other trademarks have differing status on Trademark Search versus TSDR. Also, 98703671, another hit for the 5th search, paid for one class but did not specify and goods/services. How did that application get accepted as a complete application with no goods or services specified? Or am I missing something?
________________________________
From: E-trademarks <e-trademarks-bounces at oppedahl-lists.com> on behalf of Carl Oppedahl via E-trademarks <e-trademarks at oppedahl-lists.com>
Sent: Monday, June 30, 2025 3:32 PM
To: For trademark practitioners. This is not for laypersons to seek legal advice. <e-trademarks at oppedahl-lists.com>
Cc: Carl Oppedahl <carl at oppedahl.com>
Subject: Re: [E-trademarks] Options for Challenging Stalled TM Application
I guess it was maybe eight months ago that Ken Boone posted a list of maybe 90 stalled applications to the listserv.
It would not at all surprise me if the jammed-up one that is making trouble for your client was on that list.
Anyway, I grabbed Ken's list and emailed it to Commissioner Gooder to ask if he could get the applications unjammed.
Commissioner Gooder wrote back by email the same day, saying he would get right on it and get back to me.
Then some time around or shortly after the fork-in-the-road emails, he resigned. So I guess I will not hear back from him about this.
On 6/30/2025 11:16 AM, Jackson via E-trademarks wrote:
Hi all,
I’m looking for any ideas anyone has for challenging a stalled USPTO application that continues to block my client’s application.
The stalled application was filed in 2022 on behalf of a Chinese applicant by an attorney who was excluded from USPTO practice shortly after filing that application. The USPTO issued a public note saying that attorney was excluded from USPTO practice and removing his information from the application, and requiring applicant to appoint a new attorney. A couple months later, a new attorney appeared, but shortly thereafter the new attorney withdrew and gave the reason for withdrawing as “The client is making unauthorized use of the intellectual property rights of a third party.” That was in August 2023 and since then no attorney has appeared and there has been no action or progress on the application. The status of the application remains “New application awaiting assignment to an examining attorney.”
My client’s application filed in 2023 has been suspended pending the outcome of the above application.
Is there any way to force the USPTO to take action on the suspended application? Or to challenge that application while it is awaiting assignment to an examining attorney?
Any ideas are appreciated.
Thanks,
Jackson
Jackson MacDonald, Attorney | 503.688.5106 | www.barnettfirm.com
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