IP lawyer here - yes, this is just a bureaucratic step. In practice, even if they chose to later do nothing, they would still file a notice of appearance. It w

IP lawyer here - yes, this is just a bureaucratic step. In practice, even if they chose to later do nothing, they would still file a notice of appearance. It would be silly not to, since in this case (before the TTAB) it would lead to a default judgement that would be very hard to get out of. Even if you later choose to release the trademark, you'd still want to see all the court documents, etc.