It is easy to picture trademark trouble as a lawsuit. For a self-filer, one possible formal challenge is an opposition: a proceeding at the USPTO's Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB), filed by someone who wants to stop a mark from registering. It comes after the examining attorney has already approved the application, which is why it can catch applicants off guard.
This is LogoVerify's analysis of five years of TTAB records, not a ranking published by the USPTO. It counts filings. It says nothing about whether any particular opposition was right.
How an opposition works #
Once an examining attorney approves your application for publication on the Principal Register, the mark is published in the Trademark Official Gazette, which the USPTO publishes each Tuesday (USPTO). The statute then gives "any person who believes that he would be damaged by the registration" thirty days to file an opposition, and that period can be extended on request (15 U.S.C. §1063(a)). Marks on the Supplemental Register go through a different path: they "shall not be published for or be subject to opposition" (15 U.S.C. §1092).
If an opposition is filed, the Board sets a deadline for your answer. If you don't answer in time, "the opposition may be decided as in case of default" (37 C.F.R. §2.106(a)). A common ground is likelihood of confusion with the opposer's mark, the same test examiners use; Trademark Likelihood of Confusion: Factors and Examples explains it.
The stakes are narrower than in court. In the USPTO's words, the Board's judges "are authorized to determine a party's right to register a trademark," while "the Board is not authorized to determine whether you have the right to use a trademark, and does not issue injunctions halting use." It also cannot "award money damages or attorney's fees" (USPTO: About TTAB). A TTAB decision does not itself resolve your right to use the mark; infringement claims, if any, are litigated separately in court. But a TTAB finding can carry over. The Supreme Court held that "so long as the other ordinary elements of issue preclusion are met, when the usages adjudicated by the TTAB are materially the same as those before a district court, issue preclusion should apply" (B&B Hardware, Inc. v. Hargis Industries, Inc. (2015)). Those ordinary elements include that the issue was actually litigated and decided by a valid and final judgment, and that the decision was essential to that judgment. When they are met and the uses in both proceedings are materially the same, a TTAB finding may bind a later court.
What the 2021 to 2025 records show #
We counted distinct opposition proceedings filed from 2021 through 2025 in the USPTO's public TTAB proceedings data, using the daily files through October 2, 2026. The yearly totals:
| Filing year | Opposition proceedings |
|---|---|
| 2021 | 6,751 |
| 2022 | 6,636 |
| 2023 | 6,292 |
| 2024 | 6,850 |
| 2025 | 8,066 |
| Total | 34,595 |
As a check against the USPTO's own figures, we also counted the same records by filing date. We find 6,663 oppositions filed in fiscal year 2024 (October 2023 through September 2024) and 7,673 in fiscal year 2025, which is 0.2% and 0.3% above the 6,651 and 7,650 the USPTO reports (USPTO: TTAB incoming filings).
Three patterns stand out:
- Most opposers file rarely. About 70% of opposers in this dataset filed only once during the five years. That describes the number of opposers, not their share of filings: proceedings brought only by one-time opposers account for about 27% of all opposition proceedings.
- A small group files repeatedly. 22 opposers each filed more than 100 oppositions in the period, 3,163 distinct proceedings in all, or about 9.1% of the total. No proceeding is shared between two of these 22 opposers, so the table's rows add up to the same 3,163.
- The frequent filers are not all household consumer brands. The list below includes companies that are easy to overlook, alongside household names.
The 22 most frequent opposers, 2021 to 2025 #
Counts are based on normalized entity names in the records. We normalized spelling, accent, and punctuation variants of the same name (for example, "NIKE, Inc." and "Nike, Inc."), kept differently named entities separate (for example, HUGO BOSS AG and HUGO BOSS Trade Mark Management GmbH & Co. KG), and counted an opposition filed jointly by several entities once for each entity named. We did not consolidate names across corporate conversions, reorganizations, or ownership changes, so the table ranks entity names as recorded, not each brand's full enforcement history. Display names are standardized; the raw party names behind each row are in the data appendix.
| # | Opposer | Oppositions filed, 2021 to 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Monster Energy Company | 341 |
| 2 | McDonald's Corporation | 206 |
| 3 | Apple Inc. | 202 |
| 4 | Fuente Marketing Ltd. | 163 |
| 5 | Jean Patou | 156 |
| 6 | Caterpillar Inc. | 155 |
| 7 | Bella + Canvas, LLC | 150 |
| 8 | Amazon Technologies, Inc. | 146 |
| 9 | 1661, Inc. (d/b/a GOAT) | 143 |
| 10 | Mattel, Inc. | 137 |
| 11 | Jaguar Land Rover Limited | 133 |
| 11 | Trek Bicycle Corporation | 133 |
| 13 | Nike, Inc. | 120 |
| 14 | Chanel, Inc. | 119 |
| 15 | HUGO BOSS AG | 117 |
| 16 | Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. | 114 |
| 17 | adidas AG | 107 |
| 18 | Gap (Apparel), LLC | 106 |
| 19 | iFIT Inc. | 105 |
| 19 | Target Brands, Inc. | 105 |
| 21 | Société des Produits Nestlé S.A. | 104 |
| 22 | Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft | 101 |
A filing count is not a judgment about any company or any case. Owners have a legal right to oppose registrations they believe would damage them, and an opposition can end in a decision either way, a settlement, a withdrawal, or a default. To see the cases behind a row, open its proceedings in the appendix, search the owner as a party in TTABVUE, the USPTO's public docket, or look the owner up on our brand enforcement pages.
Method and data appendix #
- Source. The USPTO's public TTAB proceedings data in XML: the backfile through December 31, 2025 and the daily files through October 2, 2026. For each proceeding we use the opposer currently named in it.
- Scope. Opposition proceedings only (cancellations excluded), with a filing year of 2021 through 2025. Each proceeding number is counted once, and every proceeding names an opposer. Each proceeding has one opposer party, which can be several companies filing jointly; where a party's name was later corrected or another party was substituted, we credit the party currently named.
- Opposer counts. Opposers are counted as legal entities, after splitting joint filings into the entities they name and normalizing case, spelling, accents, and punctuation: 13,861 entities, of which 9,688 (69.9%) filed once. The 27% figure is 9,273 of the 34,595 proceedings (26.8%): those in which every named opposer filed only once.
- Ranking. Counted per normalized entity name as described above the table. Just below the cutoff are ALO, LLC with exactly 100 and Wawa, Inc. with 98. Two owners appear under two legal forms in the period. USPTO assignment records show New Era Cap Co., Inc. merging into New Era Cap, LLC effective December 29, 2021 (Reel/Frame 7520/0208, recorded against the NEW ERA registration, No. 2017209), and Entrepreneur Media, Inc. converting into Entrepreneur Media, LLC in January 2023 (Reel/Frame 8111/0859, recorded against the ENTREPRENEUR registration, No. 1453968). Oppositions under the old and new names overlap in time, so we count each name as recorded: New Era Cap Co., Inc. (33) and New Era Cap, LLC (95), and Entrepreneur Media, Inc. (60) and Entrepreneur Media, LLC (62). Counted together they would total 128 and 122, above the cutoff.
- Appendix. Every proceeding behind the table (proceeding number, filing year, raw opposer name, standardized entity, and a TTABVUE link), the mapping from raw party names to standardized entities, and, for the full dataset, every opposition proceeding with its normalized opposers and the count for every opposer.
What this means when you choose a name #
- Check the owner, not just the mark. When your search turns up a close mark, look up its owner in TTABVUE. Repeated filings indicate an active opposition history, not the probability that this owner will oppose your application.
- Don't assume an unknown owner won't act. Most opposers in these five years filed only once, and proceedings brought only by such one-time opposers make up more than a quarter of all oppositions. A small business with an earlier mark close to yours can oppose just as a large one can.
- Different goods do not remove every risk around a famous mark. Federal dilution protection has its own requirements and exceptions, including a high threshold: the mark must be "widely recognized by the general consuming public of the United States" (15 U.S.C. §1125(c)). Resemblance to a well-known brand is not, by itself, proof of a violation, but it is worth an attorney's view before you commit.
- Plan for the publication window. The 30-day opposition period, plus any extensions, comes after approval and before registration, so budget time for it. If an opposition is filed, calendar the answer deadline the Board sets; missing it can end the case by default.
- Get help early if it happens. Oppositions are litigated proceedings with their own rules. If you are domiciled outside the US, you need a US-licensed attorney before the USPTO in any case (USPTO).
Frequently Asked Questions #
What is a trademark opposition? #
A proceeding at the USPTO's Trademark Trial and Appeal Board in which someone asks the Board to refuse registration of an application published for opposition. It must be filed within thirty days of publication, unless that period has been extended (15 U.S.C. §1063(a)).
Can I still use my name if I lose an opposition? #
The Board decides only the right to register. It "is not authorized to determine whether you have the right to use a trademark" and cannot award damages (USPTO). The decision does not itself resolve your right to use the mark. But a TTAB finding may bind a later court when the ordinary requirements for issue preclusion are met and the trademark uses considered in both proceedings are materially the same (B&B Hardware, Inc. v. Hargis Industries, Inc. (2015)). After an adverse decision, have counsel assess its grounds, any review options, and the risks of continued use before deciding whether to rebrand.
Does a company that files many oppositions usually win? #
This analysis counts filings only, and outcomes depend on each case: an opposition can end in a decision, a settlement, a withdrawal, or a default. To see how a particular owner's cases ended, open them in TTABVUE.
How did you count the oppositions? #
See the method section above. In short: distinct opposition proceedings filed 2021 through 2025, counted per legal entity, with spelling variants normalized and the full list of proceedings in the data appendix.
Where can I look up an opposer myself? #
In TTABVUE, search by party name to see the proceedings a company has been part of, with the filings and outcomes.
Related reading #
- Trademark Likelihood of Confusion: Factors and Examples, the test behind many oppositions.
- How to Check If a Brand Name Is Trademarked in the US, to find close marks before you file.
- Brand Launch Trademark Checklist: 12 Pre-Launch Checks, for the full pre-launch review.
This is general information, not legal advice. The counts reflect filings in public USPTO records and do not characterize the merits of any proceeding. For a specific opposition or a decision about a name, talk to a qualified trademark attorney.
External resources #
- USPTO: About the TTAB, what the Board can and cannot decide.
- TTABVUE, the public docket of TTAB proceedings.
- USPTO: TTAB incoming filings and performance, the official fiscal-year counts.
- USPTO: Trademark Official Gazette, where approved marks are published.
