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New Ruling On Fraud Before The USPTO

Sep. 1, 2009

In a long anticipated case on the issue of fraud before the USPTO, In re Bose Corporation, Appeal No. 2008-1448 (Fed. Cir., Aug. 31, 2009), the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) held yesterday that the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) erred by using a knew or should have known standard in determining fraud.  The CAFC held that the TTAB had read “too broadly” CAFC precedent that had mentioned the words “should have known.”  It affirmed that there is no fraud if a false representation is occasioned by an honest misunderstanding or inadvertence without a willful intent to deceive.  Thus, for a successful challenge on fraud grounds, a challenger must point to evidence to support an inference of deceptive intent.  Click here to read the case.

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