3Ls Ellis, Wanty & Willis Participate in Oral Arguments at Trademark Trial and Appeal Board

Law students often use their summer time "off"--a term used loosely here--to gain practical experience through internships, fellowships and law-related jobs. Rising Franklin Pierce Law Center 3Ls Georgia Ellis, Nicole Wanty and Timothy Willis are getting incomparable experience through their work on an Intellectual Property (IP) law case argued in front of the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) July 13 in Alexandria, VA.

Ellis, Wanty and Willis traveled to the TTAB  to assist IP & Transaction Clinic Director Ashlyn Lembree in the presentation of oral arguments on behalf of clinic client ROC USA, LLC. Ellis and Willis prepared the case, prepared Lembree for the arguments and sat second and third chairs during arguments. In addition, Willis reports, they were responsible for disseminating the "mounds of evidence that we have indexed and bound for the board of judges." All the students assisted with mooting the argument before the hearing.

Nicole Wanty,  Georgia Ellis , Professor Ashlyn Lembree and Timothy Willis

The case involves the non-profit ROC USA, LLC, that states its mission as "making quality resident ownership possible nationwide" by helping "resident corporations buy their manufactured home communities or 'mobile home parks' from private community owners."

Willis and Lembree provide a summary of the case:  The clinic, on behalf of ROC USA, LLC, applied to trademark "ROC USA" in three different international classes in two separate applications, and a third application for a stylized version of the mark (the latter of which is awaiting review pending the TTAB’s decision of the first two applications).  Originally, there were two separate cases on appeal for ROC USA, however, the TTAB requested that we consolidate the two because it involved the same mark.  The examining attorney rejected registration under section on 2(e)(2) of the Lanham Act (the federal trademark act), claiming that the mark is primarily geographically descriptive and the the "ROC" element is not sufficiently distinctive to overcome the geographic significance of "USA."  The clinic requested reconsideration which was denied, and therefore has led to the current appeal. 

At  a hearing room nine floors above the Patent & Trademark Office's Inventors Hall of Fame Museum in the Madison Building, the group from Pierce Law presented their case to Judge Grendel, Judge Walsh, and, by video link, Judge Ritchie.  After Examining Attorney Brian Neville's presentation, Pierce Law presented its rebuttal, and the case now awaits a decision from the TTAB.

The TTAB , a part of the United States Patent Office (USPTO), accepts appeals in cases where trademark registration applications have been denied and cases involving inter partes disputes between parties where one seeks to cancel or oppose another's registration. IP & Transaction Clinic clients are selected for the merits of their cases for the preparation of client-ready graduates and the hardship made upon the individual or group in having to pay traditional legal fees.

Franklin Pierce Law Center is a global leader in innovative legal education. Its internationally-renowned intellectual property program boasts one of the largest full-time faculties in the field, a broad range of curricular offerings, and the only academic intellectual property library in the nation. Through its Social Justice Institute, wide range of clinics, externships and unique Daniel Webster Scholar Honors Program, the school is a leader in practice-based education. Pierce Law has signed an affiliation agreement with the University of New Hampshire and is expected to become UNH School of Law in fall 2010.