Opposition & Cancellation Tracking

Monitor TTAB proceedings, track opposition and cancellation deadlines, detect proceeding status changes, and build a litigation dashboard across your clients’ marks.

You are an IP litigation associate responsible for monitoring 30 active TTAB (Trademark Trial and Appeal Board) proceedings for your firm’s clients. Some of your clients are opponents; others are respondents. You need to track proceeding status changes, flag new oppositions filed against your clients’ marks, and maintain an overview of all active cases.

This guide shows how to build an opposition monitoring system using the Signa API.

Prerequisites

• A Signa API key with trademarks:read scope
• Client owner IDs or a list of marks to monitor

---

1. Find all proceedings involving your clients

   Start by querying proceedings where your client appears as a party, either as the opponent (your client filed the opposition) or the respondent (someone opposed your client’s mark).

   cURL

   # Find proceedings where your client is the respondent (someone opposed their mark)
   curl "https://api.signa.so/v1/proceedings?party_owner_id=own_client01&party_role=respondent&status=pending&limit=50" \
     -H "Authorization: Bearer $SIGNA_API_KEY"
   
   # Find proceedings where your client is the opponent (they filed the opposition)
   curl "https://api.signa.so/v1/proceedings?party_owner_id=own_client01&party_role=opponent&status=pending&limit=50" \
     -H "Authorization: Bearer $SIGNA_API_KEY"
   

   import Signa from "@signa-so/sdk";
   
   const signa = new Signa({ api_key: process.env.SIGNA_API_KEY });
   
   const clientOwnerIds = ["own_client01", "own_client02", "own_client03"];
   
   // Collect all active proceedings for all clients
   const allProceedings: Array<Awaited<ReturnType<typeof signa.proceedings.list>>["data"][number] & { clientRole: string; clientOwnerId: string }> = [];
   
   for (const ownerId of clientOwnerIds) {
     const asRespondent = await signa.proceedings.list({
       party_owner_id: ownerId,
       party_role: "respondent",
       status: "pending",
       limit: 50,
     });
   
     const asOpponent = await signa.proceedings.list({
       party_owner_id: ownerId,
       party_role: "opponent",
       status: "pending",
       limit: 50,
     });
   
     for (const p of asRespondent.data) {
       allProceedings.push({ ...p, clientRole: "respondent", clientOwnerId: ownerId });
     }
     for (const p of asOpponent.data) {
       allProceedings.push({ ...p, clientRole: "opponent", clientOwnerId: ownerId });
     }
   }
   
   console.log(`Active proceedings across all clients: ${allProceedings.length}`);
   

   Expected output:

   {
     "object": "list",
     "data": [
       {
         "id": "prc_op001",
         "proceeding_type": "opposition",
         "proceeding_number": "91278456",
         "status": "pending",
         "office_code": "uspto",
         "filed_date": "2026-01-10",
         "decision_date": null,
         "parties": [
           { "owner_id": "own_other99", "name": "Apex Global Corp", "role": "opponent" },
           { "owner_id": "own_client01", "name": "Meridian Labs Inc.", "role": "respondent" }
         ],
         "contested_classes": [9, 42],
         "trademark_id": "tm_merid01"
       }
     ]
   }
   
2. Get details on the contested marks

   For each proceeding, fetch the full trademark detail to understand what is at stake.

   cURL

   # Get the contested trademark
   curl https://api.signa.so/v1/trademarks/tm_merid01 \
     -H "Authorization: Bearer $SIGNA_API_KEY"
   

   // Collect unique trademark IDs from all proceedings
   const trademarkIds = [...new Set(allProceedings.map((p) => p.trademark_id).filter(Boolean))];
   
   // Batch fetch all contested marks
   const contestedMarks = await signa.trademarks.batch({ ids: trademarkIds as string[] });
   
   for (const tm of contestedMarks.data) {
     console.log(`\n${tm.mark_text} (${tm.id})`);
     console.log(`  Office: ${tm.office_code}`);
     console.log(`  Status: ${tm.status.stage}`);
     console.log(`  Classes: ${tm.classifications.map((c) => c.nice_class).join(", ")}`);
     console.log(`  Owner: ${tm.owners[0]?.name}`);
     console.log(`  Filing date: ${tm.filing_date}`);
   }
   if (contestedMarks.not_found.length > 0) {
     console.log("Not found:", contestedMarks.not_found);
   }
   
3. Surface marks most exposed to opposition

   Pull each client’s pending and published marks, the stages most vulnerable to opposition, so you know which applications to watch most closely.

   cURL

   curl -G "https://api.signa.so/v1/owners/own_client01/trademarks" \
     -H "Authorization: Bearer $SIGNA_API_KEY" \
     --data-urlencode "status_stage=examining,published,opposition_period,pending_opposition" \
     --data-urlencode "limit=100"
   

   for (const ownerId of clientOwnerIds) {
     const vulnerableMarks = await signa.owners.trademarks(ownerId, {
       status_stage: ["examining", "published", "opposition_period", "pending_opposition"],
       limit: 100,
     });
   
     console.log(`${ownerId}: ${vulnerableMarks.data.length} marks to monitor`);
   }
   

   Focus on marks in the published, opposition_period, and examining stages, these are the ones most vulnerable to new proceedings. Registered marks can still face cancellation petitions but the risk is lower.

4. Check prosecution history for contested marks

   Review the event timeline of a contested mark to understand how the opposition fits into the prosecution history. History is always returned newest-first by event_date, there is no sort parameter to set.

   cURL

   curl "https://api.signa.so/v1/trademarks/tm_merid01/history?limit=20" \
     -H "Authorization: Bearer $SIGNA_API_KEY"
   

   const history = await signa.trademarks.history("tm_merid01", { limit: 20 });
   
   console.log("\nProsecution timeline:");
   for (const event of history.data) {
     console.log(
       `  ${event.event_date} | ${event.event_type.padEnd(20)} | ${event.description}`,
     );
     if (event.status_after_event) {
       console.log(`  ${"".padEnd(12)} Status -> ${event.status_after_event}`);
     }
   }
   

   Expected output:

   Prosecution timeline:
     2026-01-10 | opposition_filed     | OPPOSITION FILED
                Status -> pending_opposition
     2025-11-15 | publication          | PUBLISHED FOR OPPOSITION
                Status -> published
     2025-09-20 | examination_start    | APPROVED FOR PUBLICATION
     2025-06-01 | filing               | NEW APPLICATION FILED
                Status -> filed
   
5. Track proceeding outcomes and filter by type

   Query proceedings by type and status to build different views of your case docket.

   cURL

   # All opposition proceedings (any party, any status)
   curl "https://api.signa.so/v1/proceedings?party_owner_id=own_client01&proceeding_type=opposition&limit=50" \
     -H "Authorization: Bearer $SIGNA_API_KEY"
   
   # Cancellation proceedings only
   curl "https://api.signa.so/v1/proceedings?party_owner_id=own_client01&proceeding_type=cancellation&limit=50" \
     -H "Authorization: Bearer $SIGNA_API_KEY"
   
   # Decided proceedings (to review outcomes)
   curl "https://api.signa.so/v1/proceedings?party_owner_id=own_client01&status=decided_granted&limit=50" \
     -H "Authorization: Bearer $SIGNA_API_KEY"
   

   // Build a complete litigation dashboard for one client
   const oppositions = await signa.proceedings.list({
     party_owner_id: "own_client01",
     proceeding_type: "opposition",
     status: "pending",
     limit: 50,
   });
   
   const cancellations = await signa.proceedings.list({
     party_owner_id: "own_client01",
     proceeding_type: "cancellation",
     status: "pending",
     limit: 50,
   });
   
   const decidedThisYear = await signa.proceedings.list({
     party_owner_id: "own_client01",
     decision_date_gte: "2026-01-01",
     limit: 50,
   });
   
   const settled = await signa.proceedings.list({
     party_owner_id: "own_client01",
     status: "settled",
     limit: 50,
   });
   
   console.log("\n=== Litigation Dashboard ===");
   console.log(`Pending oppositions: ${oppositions.data.length}`);
   console.log(`Pending cancellations: ${cancellations.data.length}`);
   console.log(`Decided this year: ${decidedThisYear.data.length}`);
   console.log(`Settled: ${settled.data.length}`);
   
6. Detect proceeding status changes by checking history

   Check Trademark History on each contested mark to catch status transitions. Data updates land daily or weekly depending on the office (see Data Freshness & Coverage), so checking once a day is enough, there is no benefit to polling more often than the underlying data changes. Compare the latest event’s status_after_event against the value you saw on the previous check.

   TypeScript

   const watchedMarkIds = new Set(allProceedings.map((p) => p.trademark_id).filter(Boolean) as string[]);
   
   // Persist mark_id -> last-seen status between runs
   const lastSeenStatus = await loadLastSeenStatus(); // from your own store
   
   for (const markId of watchedMarkIds) {
     const history = await signa.trademarks.history(markId, { limit: 1 });
     const latest = history.data[0];
     if (!latest?.status_after_event) continue;
   
     const previous = lastSeenStatus.get(markId);
     if (previous && previous !== latest.status_after_event) {
       console.log(`[ALERT] ${markId}: ${previous} -> ${latest.status_after_event} (${latest.event_date})`);
     }
     lastSeenStatus.set(markId, latest.status_after_event);
   }
   await saveLastSeenStatus(lastSeenStatus);
   

   A status change from pending_opposition to registered means the opposition was resolved in your client’s favor, the mark proceeded to registration. A change to abandoned or refused would indicate the opposite outcome.

---

Proceeding status reference

Status	Meaning
pending	Active, awaiting decision
decided_granted	Decided in favor of the petitioner/opponent
decided_rejected	Decided in favor of the respondent
withdrawn	Petitioner/opponent withdrew the proceeding
settled	Parties reached a settlement
suspended	Proceeding paused (often pending related litigation)
partial	Mixed outcome, some grounds sustained, others denied
other	Catch-all for unusual outcomes

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Monitoring going forward

Checking history daily works, but a watch with trigger_events: ["trademark.status_changed"] scoped to your clients’ marks pushes an alert the moment the office records a status change, no daily check needed. For marks with a live opposition window, see Opposition windows for the opposition_window_status and must_act_by fields Signa attaches to every alert automatically. Fall back to the daily history check above only if you are not ready to set up watches yet.

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What’s next

Trademark Clearance

Run clearance searches to avoid triggering oppositions before you file.

Competitor Intelligence

Track competitor filing patterns to anticipate potential opposition actions.

Renewal Management

Ensure contested marks do not lapse during proceedings by tracking their deadlines.