CTA Trademark Agent study plan

Map the Lanham Act sections that govern registration, opposition, and cancellation, and state in one sentence what each section controls

Distinguish the four categories of distinctiveness (generic, descriptive, suggestive, fanciful/arbitrary) and classify ten sample marks correctly

Identify the statutory bars to registration and sort each bar into absolute versus relative grounds

Draft a one-page filing checklist covering applicant identity, goods/services wording, basis of filing, and specimen requirements

Build a clearance workflow that orders knockout, full federal, state, common-law, and domain searches by cost and risk

Interpret a sample search report by flagging confusingly similar marks and explaining the similarity rationale for each

Apply the DuPont-style likelihood-of-confusion factors to three hypothetical mark pairs and predict an outcome for each

Draft a client-facing clearance opinion letter template with a risk rating scale

Select the correct filing basis (use in commerce versus intent to use) for five client scenarios and justify each choice

Classify goods and services into the correct Nice classes for ten examples, including coordinated class and cross-class scenarios

Draft identifications of goods and services that are specific enough to avoid a description-of-goods refusal

Compare Madrid Protocol versus direct national filing for an applicant expanding into three countries

Sequence the examination timeline from filing through publication, naming each office action type and its response deadline

Diagnose the five most common refusals (descriptiveness, likelihood of confusion, specimen, disclaimer, mere surname) from short fact patterns

Draft a response to a descriptiveness refusal using evidence of acquired distinctiveness

Draft a response to a likelihood-of-confusion refusal that argues against similarity of marks and goods

Identify which issues can be cured by amendment versus which require a petition or appeal to the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board

Outline the opposition timeline from publication through notice, answer, discovery, and trial

Explain the grounds for opposition and for cancellation, distinguishing cancellation within five years from cancellation on any ground

Draft a notice of opposition skeleton with standing allegations and pleaded grounds

List the post-registration maintenance deadlines (Section 8, Section 9, Section 15) and calculate them for three sample registration dates

Explain the consequences of missing a maintenance deadline and the available cure mechanisms

Describe the cancellation grounds available against a registration and how incontestability under Section 15 changes them

Build a docketing calendar template that flags every maintenance deadline for a portfolio

Apply the likelihood-of-confusion test to three infringement fact patterns and predict outcomes

Distinguish trademark infringement, dilution, and cybersquatting claims and identify which remedies attach to each

Outline the elements of a cease-and-desist letter and draft one for a hypothetical client

Explain available remedies (injunction, damages, profits, statutory damages) and the prerequisites for each

Apply the rules of professional conduct to three scenarios involving conflicts, confidentiality, and candor to the office

Identify the scope of representation and the duty to communicate in a trademark prosecution engagement

Complete a timed 60-question mixed-domain practice exam and score it

Review every missed practice-exam item and write a corrective note for each