Paul Stewart Authors “Fed. Circ. in November: The Presumption of TM Validity” for Law360

In the latest installment of Knobbe Martens’ Law360 series on noteworthy Federal Circuit opinions, partner Paul Stewart writes about a recent decision in SoClean Inc. v. Sunset Healthcare Solutions Inc., in which the court was faced with a trademark registration that the examiner had clearly allowed to issue in error. Despite the error, the registration was entitled to the full statutory presumption of validity.

“The SoClean decision, particularly its holding regarding the presumption of validity, should prove to be an important precedent for trademark litigators. The Federal Circuit's decision makes clear that the presumption of validity applies with full force when the examiner makes a legal error, even an obvious one. In fact, the presumption of validity exists precisely because examiners sometimes make errors. If the presumption did not apply in these circumstances, it would have little, if any, practical effect.”

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