Most TTAB Disputes End Without a Trial: 98% of Q1 2026 Terminations Ended in Default, Withdrawal, or Procedure

In the first quarter of 2026, 2,403 oppositions and cancellations ended at the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board. Only 40 of them (1.7%) had an answer filed and then reached trial, briefing, or summary judgment. The other 98% ended because the respondent never answered, a party withdrew or the case was suspended for settlement talks before it ended, or the case closed on another procedural ground. Default judgments were the largest single group: 1,129 cases, or 47.0%.

Contested filings themselves slipped 2.9% quarter-over-quarter, to 2,766.

1. Filing Volume

Contested TTAB filings — oppositions plus cancellations — totaled 2,766, down from 2,849 the prior quarter, a decrease of 83 proceedings.

The softening is broad, not concentrated. Oppositions, cancellations, and ex parte appeals each fell in the low single digits; extensions dropped hardest, off 12.2%. Extensions are the loudest line on the board and the least conclusive: an extension is a party buying time to decide whether to oppose a published application, not a dispute. Many extensions do become disputes: of the 2,932 extensions filed in Q1 2026, 1,476 (50.3%) had been followed by an opposition against the same application as of October 5, 2026.

Ex parte appeals sit outside the contested count entirely. Those 925 filings are applicants challenging an examiner's refusal, not parties fighting each other. They tax the Board's workload; they don't belong in a litigation tally.²

2. Outcomes by Proceeding Type

Moot dismissals (3, 28 and 6) are also counted under Dismissed or Denied, so a row's categories can add up to more than its entry total. The Affirmed entries in the opposition and cancellation rows are federal court decisions affirming the Board. In 491 of the 796 ex parte appeals, the quarter's only entries were interim steps, such as an examining attorney denying a request for reconsideration.

Two cautions before anyone quotes these rows. First, proceedings and decision entries are not the same thing — a single opposition can generate more than one entry, which is why the entry columns exceed the proceeding count. Second, the vocabulary shifts by proceeding type, and conflating the terms is an easy way to misread the docket. In oppositions a plaintiff win is "sustained" (1,107 entries); in cancellations it is "granted" (394); in an ex parte appeal there is no plaintiff at all — "affirmed" means the examiner's refusal stood (77), "reversed" means it fell (17). Same board, three different scoreboards.

The ex parte reconsideration column counts 378 "RECON DENIED" entries across 796 proceedings. Each records an examining attorney denying an applicant's request to reconsider a final refusal, after which the Board appeal resumed. They are interim steps, not Board rulings on the appeal.

3. How Disputes End: Defaulted, Withdrawn, or Contested

Default judgments were the single largest exit in both categories: 1,129 of 2,403 terminations, or 47.0%. In a default judgment the respondent never answered, so the Board entered judgment without weighing the merits.

Withdrawals and settlement suspensions came next: 915 terminations, or 38.1%. Together, the two account for 2,044 of the 2,403 terminations (85.1%).

Few cases were litigated. Only 21 oppositions (1.2%) and 19 cancellations (3.1%) had an answer filed and then reached trial, briefing, or summary judgment, so cancellations reached that stage more often than oppositions. Another 319 terminations (13.3%) ended on other procedural grounds, including cases that were answered but closed before trial and cases dismissed without an answer.

4. High-Profile Proceedings

This section covers four proceedings filed in Q1 2026 that involve large brands. For context, across the full quarter Apple Inc. filed 17 oppositions and 13 extensions of time to oppose, Google LLC filed 6 oppositions and 4 extensions, and Louis Vuitton Malletier filed 1 opposition. Microsoft Corporation filed no oppositions; it was the applicant in one.

Apple's opposition against USP Digital Private Limited was dismissed without prejudice on June 23, 2026, 85 days after it was filed and 12 days after a motion to amend the opposed application was filed. Louis Vuitton's opponent never answered: the Board issued a notice of default on May 27, 2026, and sustained the opposition on August 13, 2026. Google's opposition against VitaNest was answered on May 30, 2026, and was suspended as of October 5, 2026. In 91306174, Microsoft is the applicant: Autogenai Ltd opposed a Microsoft application, and Microsoft filed an answer and counterclaim on May 26, 2026.

Key Numbers

1. Defaults outnumber litigated cases. Of the 2,403 oppositions and cancellations that ended in Q1 2026, 47.0% ended in default judgment and 1.7% reached trial, briefing, or summary judgment.
2. Outcome words differ by proceeding type. A "sustained" opposition and a "granted" cancellation are plaintiff wins; an "affirmed" ex parte appeal means the examiner's refusal stood.
3. Sustained counts are mostly defaults. Of the 1,101 oppositions sustained during the quarter, 948 (86.1%) never had an answer filed.
4. Cancellations were litigated more often than oppositions. 3.1% of terminated cancellations reached trial, briefing, or summary judgment, against 1.2% of terminated oppositions.
5. Extensions often lead to oppositions. Of the 2,932 extensions of time to oppose filed in Q1 2026, 1,476 (50.3%) had been followed by an opposition against the same application as of October 5, 2026.

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¹ Extensions of time to oppose and ex parte appeals are excluded from the contested-filing headline: an extension is a pre-dispute step and an ex parte appeal is an applicant-versus-examiner matter, not a party-versus-party contest.

² Filing counts cover January 1 through March 31, 2026, as recorded on July 1, 2026. Terminations are oppositions and cancellations whose status changed to terminated in that window; Section 3 was recomputed from records as of October 5, 2026, and Section 4 statuses are as of that date. Figures will change as cases progress. This report is informational and does not constitute legal advice. Data sourced from USPTO TTAB records.

Explore more USPTO data analysis on the GleanMark Insights blog.