3 Gilson on Trademarks § 9.03
Summary
- [1] Entitlement to a Statutory Cause of Action (Standing)
The treatise cites some decisions from the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board that are designated as “not citable as precedent.” It includes such decisions, which are not binding in later cases, because they can show trends and demonstrate the extent of the TTAB’s endorsement of a particular rule of law. The TTAB has stated that nonprecedential decisions may be “cited for whatever persuasive value” they might have. TBMP § 101.03.
However, the TTAB discourages citation in briefs to its nonprecedential decisions. TBMP § 101.03. It notes that “the wholesale citation of nonprecedential cases lessens the persuasive value” of a party’s submissions and any citation of such cases “should be done judiciously and rarely.” DC Comics v. Cellular Nerd LLC, 2022 U.S.P.Q.2d 1249 (T.T.A.B. 2022).
See § 9.02[9] for more on precedential and nonprecedential TTAB opinions.