In Rocket Trademarks Pty Ltd. v. Phard S.p.A., the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (“TTAB”) reaffirmed its new standard for introducing Internet evidence in a trademark opposition proceeding. Phard had objected to certain Internet printouts that were introduced during a deposition on the grounds that the deponent did not properly authenticate the printouts since the deponent lacked personal knowledge regarding who performed the Internet searches and how the printouts were accessed.
The TTAB rejected Phard’s objection, pointing out that the TTAB had changed its rules regarding the authentication of Internet evidence. Under current practice, Internet evidence can be introduced via a notice of reliance or as exhibits to a deposition if the Internet evidence meets three requirements: (1) the URL must be visible on the Internet printouts, (2) the dates that the Internet document was accessed must be visible on the document itself or set out in the notice of reliance, and (3) the relevancy of the Internet evidence is set forth.