How long is a registered mark good for? (2023)

How long is a registered mark good for?

Unlike patents and copyrights, trademarks do not expire after a set period of time. Trademarks will persist so long as the owner continues to use the trademark. Once the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), grants a registered trademark, the owner must continue to use the trademark in ordinary commerce.

A Trademark or Service Mark registration is active for five (5) years from the date the mark was filed with the California Secretary of State's office. Within six (6) months of expiration of the five (5) years, the mark may be renewed for another five (5) years.

Registering your trademark ensures you maintain exclusive rights to the mark. If you don't renew on time, you lose your rights. Your competitor would be within their full legal right to come in and claim ownership. Not to mention there are many costs associated with re-registering.

The US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) administers federal trademark registrations, and every trademark registration starts with a ten-year term. The trademark owner must renew the trademark registration every ten years to keep it in good standing.

You can lose a trademark in a variety of ways. You can lose a mark through abandonment. A mark will be considered abandoned if you stop using it for three consecutive years and you have no intent to resume its use. You can also lose a mark through improper licensing or improper assignment.

In the United States, a federal trademark can potentially last forever, but it has to be renewed every ten years. If the mark is still being used between the 5th and the 6th year after it was registered, then the registration can be renewed.

Filing Declaration of Use and Application for Renewal every 10 years (Combined §8 declaration and §9 renewal): $525 per class (if filed before the grace period). 4.

A trademark is used for goods, while a service mark is used for services. A trademark: Identifies the source of your goods or services. Provides legal protection for your brand.

Usually, the process takes 12 to 18 months.

What invalidates a trademark?

A trademark can be revoked for the following reasons:

A trademark can be revoked if the trademark owner has not taken the trademark into use within five years of the registration, or if such use has been suspended for five successive years.

Trademark Invalidation

If the registration is less than five years old, the party challenging the trademark rights can rely on any ground that could have prevented registration initially. The likelihood of confusion and descriptiveness is the most common grounds asserted to invalidate trademark rights.

After your trademark registers, you will need to pay maintenance fees periodically to keep your registration alive. See our trademark fee information and the fee schedule for more detailed information.

The other business registered the mark first, but your business was the first to use it. If you began using your business name in commerce before the other company began and registered it, you will likely be able to continue to use it in the market in which you were using it when the other company registered it.

The USPTO defines a dead mark as: “A dead or abandoned status for a trademark application means that specific application is no longer under prosecution within the USPTO, and would not be used as a bar against your filing.” While you can register a dead mark, other potential issues may make it not worth the risk.

A registered trademark can be challenged by any aggrieved party in India.

A trademark application could take between 6 and 16 months to process, so during the time in which your application is pending, you may only use the TM symbol. Upon approval, you can immediately start using the registered symbol. You don't have to register your trademark, although this comes with some risk.

Securing a registered trademark protects your brand, and provides you with the tools to prevent someone using similar signs and riding off the back of your business. If you do not protect your trademark by registering it, then you may find you are legally prevented from expanding your business.

Is it worth it to file a trademark?

It is a good idea to register your trademark to protect yourself against an infringement suit, to add value to your company, to put your competitors and the public on notice of your rights in your own brand and to strengthen the legal protection of your mark.

A federal trademark lasts 10 years from the date of registration, with 10-year renewal terms. Between the fifth and sixth year after the registration date, the registrant must file an affidavit to state that the mark is still in use.

The oldest depictions of the Mickey Mouse character will be available for other creators to distribute - but only those particular cartoons. Mickey Mouse's 1920s appearance is a registered trademark of the Disney corporation, and actively used trademarks do not expire so long as renewal payments are made.

It is possible to claim a trademark once it's dead. When a trademark is listed as 'dead,' it's previous 'live' status won't bar you from registration. However, you will run into problems of the original owner is still using the trademark or decides to start using it again after a period of time.

The easiest and least expensive way to register your trademark is online, through the USPTO's Trademark Electronic Application System (TEAS). Remember that you can only register one trademark per application.

Fees to trademark a business name

When filing an application to trademark your business name on a federal level through the USPTO, you should count on paying between $250 and $750.

Generic. Finally, a generic mark is the weakest form of a mark because it simply uses the word of the good or service as its trademark.

A poor man's trademark, in simple terms, is when a person mails to themselves in an envelope their underlying artwork or name they wish to trademark to themselves using the United States Postal Service.

This page includes Federal Register Notice 83 FR 44264 detailing the procedure and the required USPTO form to use. Trademark fees are generally not refunded by the USPTO.

When you think about it, that number is quite shocking. It means nearly 1-in-5 trademark applications were refused.

Can you lose your trademark if you don't defend it?

If you don't enforce your trademark, you risk losing reputation, business, sales, customers, and more to the infringer. There's also a concept in trademark law called abandonment. Generally, if you don't use your mark for three years or more, it's considered abandoned.

The most common are: Likelihood of Confusion: The USPTO conducts a search for conflicting marks as part of the official examination of an application only after a trademark application is filed.

Is it really possible to make real money with trademarks? Of course it is! You can ask the owner of the phrase “Let's get Ready to Rumble” who has made well over $400 million in licensing revenue according to ABC. And there are countless other companies, brands, and entrepreneurs that profit from trademarks.

If somebody else is already using a mark that is reasonably similar to yours, it's likely that your application for trademark registration will be denied. United States trademark law requires trademarks to be entirely unique from any other than are currently in use.

Stated briefly, trademark law makes it unlawful for a business to use a trademark (e.g., a slogan, a logo, a name) in connection with a good or service if that use is confusingly similar to another business's use of a trademark. To see how this works, imagine a consumer - Sally.

If a proposed trademark name is similar to an already registered one and could be confusing, the USPTO won't register it. To be that confusing, the trademark names must be identical and must belong in the same services or goods class.

The strongest types of trademarks are (1) fanciful or coined marks, such as EXXON for petroleum products; and (2) arbitrary marks, such as AMAZON for retail services.

A federal trademark lasts 10 years from the date of registration, with 10-year renewal terms. Between the fifth and sixth year after the registration date, the registrant must file an affidavit to state that the mark is still in use.

There are many factors that affect how long it takes to register a trademark. In fact, there's no guarantee your trademark will ever register, as it may be refused for various legal reasons. Usually, the process takes 12 to 18 months.

Is a trademark worth money?

It's pretty clear that trademarks can be worth a great deal of money. The trademark process takes a few steps, but is worth the effort. Figure out what needs protecting and make sure that no other companies are already using the same or similar logos, slogans or brand names.