US Trademark Register Cluttered With Dead Wood

According to this article from the Richmond Times-Dispatch, the USPTO has recently completed a survey of the trademark register, and found that approximately half of all marks "contained false claims as to what goods or services were being sold using those trademarks."

When a mark's owner certifies that the mark is being used on a range of products, they don't have to show actual use on all of the products listed, but only on one item. The USPTO takes your word for it with respect to the rest of the list.

The new survey shows that, for about half of the marks checked, the owners were not using the mark on all of the listed products or services.

Worse, about a third of trademark owners did not respond to the survey at all, resulting in cancellation of their marks.