You can re register trademark if it has been canceled or marked dead in the USPTO database. Failure to file a renewal application before the expiry of the grace period of six months from the due date results in automatic cancellation of your trademark.

Trademark Renewal in the United States

After registering your trademark with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), you must follow certain steps to keep your registration active; failure to do so may result in cancellation of your registration.

In addition to declaring continued use of trademark, you must periodically renew your registration by:

  • Doing a Section 8 filing for declaration of use between the fifth and sixth year of registration and with every renewal thereafter.
  • Doing a Section 9 filing for renewal of registration between the ninth and 10th year of registration and every 10 years thereafter.

Trademark renewal is quite expensive. Currently, it costs a government fee of $300 for each category of goods and services. Additionally, you will also incur legal fees if you hire the services of a trademark attorney for filing your renewal application. Attorneys charge anywhere between $300 and $2000, depending upon the classes of goods and other complications involved in the application process.

The due dates for filing renewal applications are measured from the date of trademark registration and not from the date of filing or publishing the trademark application.

For example, if your trademark was issued on April 16, 2013, your filing due dates would be as follows:

  • Earliest date for first Section 8 filing (declaration of use): April 16, 2018.
  • Due date for first Section 8 filing: April 16, 2019.
  • Last date for first Section 8 filing with additional fees: October 16, 2019; if you fail to file by this date, your trademark registration will be canceled.
  • Earliest date for first renewal (Sections 8 and 9 combined filing): April 16, 2022.
  • Due date for first renewal (Sections 8 and 9 combined filing): April 16, 2023.
  • Last date for first renewal (Sections 8 and 9 combined filing) with additional fees: October 16, 2023; if you fail to file by this date, your trademark registration will be canceled.

The trademark registration agency does not send any reminders for upcoming renewals, nor does it grant any extensions. You are solely responsible for renewing your trademark. If you miss the renewal deadline, your trademark will automatically stand canceled.

Declaration of Use

You must show that your trademark is in use by filing a Section 8 declaration of use. You must file the first declaration by the sixth year of registration and the second declaration before the 10th year. Thereafter, you must file it every 10 years.

A declaration of use filing with the USPTO must include the following requisites:

  • A list of items from your trademark registration that you currently sell in the United States.
  • An image that clearly shows your trademark being used on your products or with your services.
  • A filing fee of $125 for each category of goods and services.

If you are not currently selling any of the goods to which your trademark registration applies, you must indicate those goods for deletion in your declaration. If you try to keep the registration active even for classes of goods you are not currently selling by making a false declaration, you risk losing the entire registration.

How to Find Your Trademark Registration Date

You can find the date of your trademark registration by performing a search on the USPTO website:

  1. Visit the USPTO website.
  2. Look for the trademark search option in left column and click on it.
  3. Search for your trademark by name.
  4. Click on your trademark in the list of results. The resulting data sheet will have a black and white image of your logo.
  5. Look for the registration date.

Trademark Renewal Grace Period

If you miss the first renewal deadline between the fifth and sixth year of registration, you get a grace period of six months with a penalty of $100 (in addition to the regular filing fee of $100). If you do not file the renewal even within the grace period, your trademark will be marked dead in the USPTO database. In order to claim the ownership, you will have to reregister the trademark all over again.

A similar grace period of six months also applies to Sections 8 and 9 combined filing in the 10th year. Since there are two forms in this filing, you will be charged a total penalty of $200 or $100 for each form.

If you need help to reregister a trademark, you can post your legal need on UpCounsel's marketplace. UpCounsel accepts only the top 5 percent of lawyers to its site. Lawyers on UpCounsel come from law schools such as Harvard Law and Yale Law and average 14 years of legal experience, including work with or on behalf of companies like Google, Menlo Ventures, and Airbnb.