Every party filing a new trademark lawsuit must complete “Form AO 120,” titled, “Report on the Filing or Determination of an Action Regarding a Patent or Trademark.”
The form asks the plaintiff to provide information about the trademark at issue in the suit, including its “date.”
I’ve gotten a couple questions about what date this refers to. The form doesn’t say.
However, the form’s existence springs out of 15 U.S.C. § 1116(c), which states:
“It shall be the duty of the clerks of such courts within one month after the filing of any action, suit, or proceeding involving a mark registered under the provisions of this chapter to give notice thereof in writing to the Director setting forth in order so far as known the names and addresses of the litigants and the designating number or numbers of the registration or registrations upon which the action, suit, or proceeding has been brought…”
This suggests the date the form asks for is the date the mark was registered.
So what if the mark isn’t registered? The clerk of court will probably require the plaintiff to fill out Form AO 120 anyway. In that case, I think the best practice would be to provide the date any application to register the mark was filed. Or, if the plaintiff has not filed such an application, to provide the mark’s first-use date. Neither are strictly required by the statute, but providing such dates should satisfy the clerk and appraise the PTO of the pending action.