Concurrent Use Proceeding Law and Legal Definition
Concurrent use proceeding is an administrative process governed by the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board. The Board reviews an application for a concurrent use registration, and sends notice to the party identified in the application that the rights in their mark can be limited as provided in the application. The non-applicant party has forty days to answer. If the non-applicant party fails to answer the limitations specified in the concurrent use application will be entered as a judgment.
If an application for concurrent use registration complies with the all requirements and it appears that the applicant is entitled to registration but for the question of concurrent rights, the examining attorney will approve the application for publication subject to a concurrent use registration proceeding. The examining attorney should not require an applicant for concurrent use registration to submit evidence in support of its claim to concurrent rights. However, the examining attorney can refuse registration if the applicant has requested a concurrent use registration and information in the record suggests that the applicant has not met the basic requirements for concurrent use registration such as the adoption and use of the mark with knowledge of the rights of a person specified as an excepted user, or that actual confusion has resulted from the concurrent use of the marks of the parties in their respective geographic areas.
