CHOICE OF VENUE IN APPEALING TTAB DECISIONS

A party appealing a decision from the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board may choose to appeal to either the Federal Circuit or a district court but is bound by that choice in subsequent appeals from the Board’s decision on remand.  The article, entitled “Princeton Vanguard v Frito-Lay: each party gets a single choice of which type of appeal to pursue,” first published on November 25, 2019 in WTR Daily, part of World Trademark Review, discussed a case of first impression impacting a party’s strategy in determining which venue to choose for an appeal from the Board.  The court also made clear that each party gets one choice in its venue for an appeal.  Thus, in a subsequent appeal taken by a party who had not yet elected an appeal venue, that party is not bound by the venue chosen by the other party in an earlier appeal.