CTA Eyeing Backup Certification Mark for OTC Hearing Aids, Says Markwalter

CTA likely will fall back on one of several alternative logos as a certification mark to identify reputable over-the-counter devices compliant with the ANSI/CTA-2051 standard for consumers with mild or moderate hearing loss, Brian Markwalter, senior vice president-research and standards, told us at last week’s Technology and Standards Forum in Santa Clara, California. CTA’s first application to register the logo ran into roadblocks at the Patent and Trademark Office when examiners ruled the logo bears striking similarity to a Bose trademark for a headphone listening app (see 1803040001). PTO gave CTA a July 24 deadline to defend the application, which was still active at the agency Tuesday. “It’s a process,” Markwalter told us. CTA unveiled the logo last year at a convention of the Hearing Loss Association of America. CTA President Gary Shapiro is scheduled to keynote this year’s HLAA convention June 21 in Minneapolis, opening a session to be sponsored by the CTA Foundation (see 1803090011).