U.S. Supreme Court denies Rosenruist-Gestao Petition for Writ of Certiorari

The U.S. Supreme today denied the petition for writ of certiorari filed by Rosenruist-Gestao E Servicos LDA in its appeal of the Fourth Circuit’s decision holding that a foreign corporation (Rosenruist-Gestao) can be compelled to answer a Rule 30(b)(6) deposition subpoena issued pursuant to 35 U.S.C. §24 arising out of a Trademark Trial and Appeal Board ("TTAB")opposition filed by Virgin Enterprises Limited opposing Rosenruist-Gestao’s intent-to-use trademark application for the mark VIRGIN GORDA. See Rosenruist-Gestao E Servicos LDA, fka Rosenruist-Gestao E Servicos Sociedade Unipessoal LDA v. Virgin Enterprises Limited, 2008 U.S. LEXIS 4416, No. 07-1214 (U.S. May 27, 2008); see also Rosenruist-Gestao E Servicos LDA v. Virgin Enterprises Ltd., 511 F.3d 437 (4th Cir. 2007); Rosenruist-Gestao E Servicos Sociedade Unipessoal LDA v. Virgin Enterprises Limited, Opposition No. 91161535 (TTAB Filed July 29, 2004).

Previous blog posts on the dispute can be found here and here. Summaries of the Fourth Circuit’s decision can be found on Filewrapper.com and The TTABlog®.

So will this decision have the far-reaching impact foreshadowed by Fourth Circuit Judge Wilkinson(the lone dissenter in the Fourth Circuit’s decision)? Can the Fourth Circuit’s decision even be enforced by the district court? Only time will tell.

For now, attorneys involved in trademark disputes with a foreign applicant at the TTAB can have a subpoena issued by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia compelling the foreign company to produce a witness in response to a Rule 30(b)(6) deposition notice.