Renewing Trademark Rights
Registered trademark rights must be renewed periodically.
We can take care of tracking and renewing your trademark registrations. We maintain a docket on which we calendar the renewal deadlines and we provide you with early reminders to provide plenty time to budget for the renewals. Avoid the costly mistake of missing a trademark renewal and having your registration go abandoned.
How long do trademark rights last? Trademark rights can last forever. However, once you own a trademark registration, you must do a few important things to maintain that registration and keep it alive. First, you must use your trademark in commerce. Additionally, you must file certain documents with the United States Patent & Trademark Office at regular intervals to show that you’re continuing to use your trademark. If you don’t file these documents before the deadline, your registration will be canceled or will expire, or your extension of protection to the U.S. will be invalidated (if you filed via WIPO under the Madrid system).
Required filings
You must file these documents within these deadlines to keep your trademark registration alive:
- Between the fifth and sixth years after the registration date – File a Declaration of Use and/or Excusable Nonuse under section 8
- Between the ninth and 10th years after the registration date – File the first Declaration of Use and/or Excusable Nonuse and an Application for Renewal under sections 8 and 9
- Every 10 years after that (between the 19th and 20th years, 29th and 30th years, etc.) – File subsequent Declarations of Use and/or Excusable Nonuse and an Application for Renewal under sections 8 and 9.