Trademark Registration Renewal

When your trademark was first registered, you were required to submit a specimen demonstrating the use of your trademark in commerce. However, even if you were once using that trademark for the sale of goods and services, that doesn’t necessarily mean that you are still using that trademark. Because trademark owners are only entitled to federal registration if they are using the trademark in commerce, the United States Patent and Trademark Office requires you to periodically prove that your trademark is still in use after its initial registration.

You will have to continuously renew the trademark throughout the trademark’s lifespan:

• Between the 5th and 6th Anniversary of your registration a trademark owner is required to file a Declaration of Use and/or Excusable Nonuse under Section 8 of the Trademark Act.
• Between the 9th and 10th Anniversary, the trademark owner is required to file a Combined Declaration of Use and/or Excusable Nonuse/Application for Renewal under Sections 8 & 9 of the Trademark Act.
• Every 10 Years afterwards (20th anniversary, 30th anniversary, etc.) you will again file the Combined Declaration of Use and/or Excusable Nonuse/Application for Renewal under Sections 8 & 9 of the Trademark Act.

If you miss a renewal deadline, there is a six-month grace period in which the USPTO will still accept a renewal application. However, you must submit an additional late filing fee of $200 per class to the USPTO.

If you miss the six-month grace period, your trademark will expire, and the USPTO will cancel your registration. If you still want the benefits of trademark registration, you will have to complete the application process again.

If you originally registered your trademark to be protected in multiple classes of goods/services in your initial registration, but are no longer using the trademark in one of those classes, you may choose to limit your renewal to cover only the classes in which you are actively using the trademark.

You may not add new classes of goods/services to your trademark through any renewal application.

Initiating the process will usually take anywhere from 5 to 10 minutes on the Trademark Engine website. For a typical application, be prepared to provide at least the following:

• The actual mark you want to use.
• The full legal name and address of the owner of the mark.
• (If your mark is ""In Use"") A copy of the specimen which is an example that shows you are using the mark in commerce. This could be a picture of your product or a website advertising your service.
• A category of the goods or services where you are using your mark from our drop down menu and a description of your goods or services.
• (If your mark is ""In Use"")The date you first used the mark in commerce and the date you first shared the mark anywhere."