Opinion ID: 2795022
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Use of Prior Applications

Text: As a threshold matter, Mr. Tam argues that the examining attorney and the Board should not have considered evidence gathered by the examining attorney while evaluating the earlier ’263 application. We disagree. The examining attorney may look to evidence outside the application, such as dictionary definitions and newspaper articles, when determining the “manner of use” of the mark. See In re Bayer Aktiengesellschaft, 488 F.3d 960, 966–69 (Fed. Cir. 2007). Mr. Tam claims use of the mark THE SLANTS back to 2006, before he filed the ’263 application. Evidence gathered in response to the ’263 application is relevant to determining the mark’s manner of use for the time period during which Mr. Tam asserts the mark was in use. While the evidence gathered during the evaluation of the ’263 application derives from an abandoned application dated before the ’044 application’s filing date, its use was not improper. IN RE TAM 5