Ice Miller partners Lesley Grossberg and Jacqueline Lesser will be participating in a Strafford live video webinar titled, "Fraud in Trademark Applications and Registrations: Proving or Defeating Allegations." 

This CLE course will review TTAB and court treatment of fraud in the procurement and maintenance of trademark registrations. The panel will suggest best practices for trademark applicants, owners, and their counsel to mitigate the risk of findings of fraud arising from inaccurate recitations in trademark applications and post-registration maintenance filings.

Program Description:

Many of the post-In re Bose rulings demonstrate the importance of avoiding complacency on the issue of fraud when applying for or maintaining trademark registrations. This is true in light of uncertainty in pre-Bose case law on the consequences of findings of fraud where multiple-class applications or registrations are concerned.

The USPTO has reiterated its commitment to combating both fraudulent trademark applications and improper maintenance of registrations on the Register. In August 2025, the USPTO terminated over 52,000 applications and registrations connected to a foreign filing firm as part of its ongoing efforts to eliminate fraudulent filings.

The expungement and reexamination procedures created by the Trademark Modernization Act of 2020 provide an important alternative avenue for clearing the register of marks that should never have been registered, with a lower evidentiary burden of providing nonuse of a mark in U.S. commerce as opposed to fraudulent misrepresentation and an intent to deceive.

While Bose set a high bar in the context of inter partes proceedings, trademark owners and counsel should be aware that other federal courts may not apply the same strict standard as the Federal Circuit court. Opinions from those courts demonstrate that the risk of a finding of fraud remains a real one for trademark applicants and registrants alike.

Listen as our authoritative panel provides a brief overview of Bose and examines the subsequent treatment of fraud allegations by the USPTO since that decision at the TTAB and in the courts. The panel will also discuss proving fraud and defeating those allegations and suggest best practices for avoiding findings of fraudulent procurement and maintenance.

Panelists:

• Nancy Rubner Frandsen, Senior Counsel, Royer Cooper Cohen Braunfeld, LLC
• Lesley McCall Grossberg, Partner, Ice Miller LLP
• Jacqueline M. Lesser, Partner, Ice Miller LLP

CLE Credit Information:

This 90-minute webinar is eligible in most states for 1.5 CLE credits.