Concluding that Coca-Cola failed to establish statutory standing based on lost sales or reputational injury, the CAFC reversed the TTAB's decision [TTABlogged here] ordering cancellation of Meenaxi Enterprise's registrations.
In
Australian Therapeutic Supplies Pty Ltd. v. Naked TM, LLC, the Federal Circuit recently denied a petition for rehearing
en banc of a panel decision finding that a petitioner who contracted away its rights to unregistered marks still had standing to seek cancellation of those marks because it had a “real interest” in cancellation and a “reasonable belief of damage.” Judge Wallach dissented from the denial, expressing disagreement with the majority’s broadening of the “zone of interests” available to a party petitioning for cancellation. He also warned of the potential confusion the denial of rehearing will cause and questioned the majority’s apparent silent expansion of Supreme Court precedent on the conferral of standing.