Another Loss for the New England Patriots

The Applicant in this case filed an application for “19-0 THE PERFECT SEASON” on November 8, 2007, seeking registration on the Supplemental Register, and amended the application on April 22, 2008 to seek registration on the Principal Register. In the meantime, the Patriots filed an intent-to-use application on January 17, 2008, for the same mark for registration on the Principal Register. The Patriots opposed the Applicant’s mark. To succeed in the opposition, the Patriots needed priority and thus attempted to knock out the prior application. The Patriots argued that the Applicant had admittedly not used the mark by its first filing date for registration on the Supplemental Register and did not specify use-in-commerce as the filing basis, and the application was void on those bases. In response, the TTAB held that the prior application met all the requirements to receive a filing date and the Patriots were attempting to conflate the requirements for filing a trademark application with the requirements for registration. The TTAB commented that applicants are allowed to add missing information to an application without losing the original filing date. Kraft Group LLC v. William A. Harpole, Opposition No. 91185033 (TTAB 2009) [precedential].