Who Can File

• Any person who has cause to believe they will be damaged or harmed by a registered trademark may file a cancellation petition with the United States Trademark and Patent Office.
  
  

Third Parties

• Third-party involvement in cancellation petitions is common. A good example of how this happens is the Facebook case. One of the important features of Facebook is the provisioning of applications developed and owned by third-party developers. Should Facebook be prohibited from continuing business under the Facebook name, these developers stand to suffer harm. The developers, therefore, might present evidence in support of Facebook retaining its trademark. Alternatively, should the trademark be canceled, these same developers might wish to use the cancellation as grounds for seeking damages.
  
  

Grounds for Cancellation

• Petitions for cancellation may not be filed until five years after a trademark has been granted. Petitions are granted on one of 10 grounds: the mark has not been used; it is generic; it is an insignia or flag; it misrepresents the source of the product or service; it is deceptive; it belittles a belief, institution, person or national symbol; it is scandalous; it infringes on the distinctive quality of the plaintiff's registered trademark; or the mark is a functional object.