Trademark and Patent Invalidation
Short answer: when someone else's registered right is what stands between you and your own brand or product, you do not have to negotiate around it. Trademark registrations can be opposed, invalidated or cancelled for non-use; patents can be attacked in an invalidity proceeding built on prior art. These are offensive tools, and they are often what finally makes a complaint go away.
How we work
Registration date, owner, class, use history and prosecution record
Opposition while pending, invalidation after registration, non-use cancellation where three years have passed
Prior use, prior filing, market reputation, sales evidence, dated publicity, or prior-art literature
Briefs, evidence deadlines and, in patent cases, an oral hearing
A cancelled or narrowed right removes the obstacle, and often changes the other side's appetite for litigation
What you need to prepare
- Certificate details of the target right
- Evidence of your earlier use or filing
- Proof the mark is not used, or was filed in bad faith
- Prior-art documents for patent invalidity with publication dates
- Chain of ownership for the parties involved
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between invalidation and non-use cancellation?
Invalidation attacks the registration from the start — it should never have granted, for example because it is descriptive, confusingly similar to an earlier right, or filed by someone with no genuine intent to use. Non-use cancellation says the right was valid when granted but has been idle for three consecutive years. The first looks backwards, the second looks at current use.
How likely is a patent invalidity petition to succeed?
It depends entirely on the prior art you can produce, so a serious search comes first. Registered designs and utility-model style rights that were never substantively examined are frequently the most vulnerable, which is why a validity opinion is often the cheapest part of a defence.
They are complaining about me right now. Can I still file for invalidation?
Yes, and it is often the right sequence. The platform appeal buys days; the invalidation attacks the foundation. Where the mark is later cancelled, complaints built on it typically collapse, and in some jurisdictions damages claims fall with them.
Want an assessment first?
Tell us the product and target marketplaces and we will give you a registrability opinion, a realistic timeline and a cost breakdown. Files can be submitted within 48 hours of confirmation.
