Green Confusion

There are two national political parties in the US that lay claim to the title Green. As you may have noticed, neither of them can claim to have helped elect any Green candidates recently. But that doesn't stop them fighting each other, rather like the feud in the Life of Brian between the Judaean Popular Front and the Popular Front of Judaea (splitters). Now the Green-on-Green rivalry has spilled over into intellectual property law.

After stymying the trademark application of the Green Party of the United States last year, the Greens/Green Party USA has filed its own application. It would like federal recogniton for the exclusive right to use its name as a trademark. Last year's TTAB decision held that the competing parties' marks are confusingly similar.

This is not the first time the Greens/Green Party USA has filed a trademark application. In filed once in February 1992 but failed to respon to an Office Action, so the USPTO deemed the application abandoned.  It tried again in August 1994, only to abandon the application again.

Third time lucky?  In March 2005, the Greens/Green Party USA filed another application.  Much correspondence ensued.

But then, on April 5, 2011, the United States Patent & Trademark Office issued the Notice of Publication, which started the clock running on the 30-day opposition period.  Will the Green Party of the United States file timely opposition? The clock is still ticking.