An article this week by Business News Daily (www.businessnewsdaily.com) quotes me about the comments I obtained via a FOIA request regarding the USPTO study of trademark litigation tactics.
From the article:
Pelton, who so far, appears to be the only person who has granted the public access to the documents — even the USPTO has not posted them — is calling for a Senate hearing on the issue of trademark bullying.
“Our firm specializes in representing the interests of smaller businesses,” Pelton told BusinessNewsDaily. “We’ve been following the issue all along and believe there is an important discussion and debate to be had about whether this is a problem.”
Pelton believes the USPTO has obligation to protect all businesses — large and small — but believes small businesses are disproportionately affected by this issue.
He also said that changes to processes at trademark office to shorten the application and registration and dispute and appeals process would be helpful.
“It can take three to four years to litigate a dispute,” Pelton said. “During this time, the company being disputed is on hold and can’t invest resources in its trademark. Speeding up process would help businesses.”
The full article is available here.
