CTA Applies to Trademark Second Logo as Certification Mark for OTC Hearing Aids

CTA applied June 18 to register as a “certification mark” a second logo it designed for “personal sound amplification and enhancement devices” to be sold over-the-counter to consumers with mild or moderate hearing loss, Patent and Trademark Office records show. CTA created the logo as a means of identifying reputable OTC hearing aids that meet “minimum performance requirements” as specified in the ANSI/CTA-2051 standard it approved in January 2017 with the American National Standards Institute. CTA applied for the first logo in October (see 1710170016), but PTO rejected it on grounds it was “sufficiently similar” to the trademarked logo Bose uses for its Bose Hear listening-enhancement headphone app, raising the “likelihood” of consumer “confusion” between the two (see 1803040001). CTA had until midnight Sunday to challenge PTO’s rejection but let the deadline lapse without responding, rendering it likely that the agency will now declare the application abandoned. CTA spokeswoman Izzy Santa confirmed Monday that the new logo will be used "in conjunction with CTA-2051." CTA President Gary Shapiro keynoted the Hearing Loss Association of America convention Thursday in Minneapolis but didn't unveil the logo there, said Santa. "His remarks focused on our standards work being done." The FDA Reauthorization Act of 2017, which President Donald Trump signed into law in August, created a new category of OTC hearing aids for adults with mild to moderate hearing loss. The law gives the FDA three years to develop rules on how OTC hearing aids will be regulated.