⁍ The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit agreed with appellant Corcamore LLC that the TTAB should have evaluated its motion to dismiss the petition.

---

⁍ However, ‘we discern no meaningful distinction’ between the Supreme Court decision and the test the TTAB used, Circuit Judge Jimmie Reyna wrote for the panel.

---

– The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ruled Tuesday that the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board “used the wrong precedent” when it rejected a company’s request to cancel its trademark of the “Sprout” name, Westlaw Today reports. According to the Dallas Morning News, Sprouts Farmers Market filed a trademark application for the name in 2002 and used it alongside its vending machines until a company called Corcamore LLC filed a petition with the TTAB in 2015. The TTAB rejected Corcamore’s request for a hearing on the trademark application. A federal appeals court agreed with Corcamore that the TTAB should have evaluated the motion to dismiss under standards the Supreme Court laid out in a 2016 case. However, “we discern no meaningful distinction” between the Supreme Court decision and the test the TTAB used, Circuit Judge Jimmie Reyna wrote for the panel. He was joined by Circuit Judges Raymond Chen and Todd Hughes. The TTAB used the wrong precedent but reached the right result in evaluating Sprouts’ right to seek cancellation of a ‘Sprout’ trademark used in conjunction with vending machines, a federal appeals court held Tuesday. The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit agreed with appellant Corcamore LLC that the TTAB should have evaluated its motion to dismiss the petition under standards the US Supreme Court laid out in a 2016 case. However, “we discern no meaningful distinction” between the Supreme Court decision and the test the TTAB used.