Clock

How Long Do I Have to Revive a Lapsed Trademark Application or Registration?

If there has been an unintentional abandonment or lapse in a trademark filing, it may be possible to file a petition to revive the dead application or reinstate a lapsed registration.

Applicants and registrants can check the status of an application or registration using the Trademark Status and Document Retrieval (TSDR) database, which is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The party should print the TSDR screen and place it in the party’s own file, in order to have a record of the status inquiry and the information learned. The applicant should determine the mailing date of the notice of abandonment by reviewing the date provided at the top of the notice. These deadlines are strictly enforced. If you are unclear about the timeliness of your petition, you may speak to a paralegal in the Petitions Office, (571 )272-8950.

In order to qualify, the trademark owner must first state under oath whether it received a notice of abandonment/cancellation/expiration from the Trademark Office.
If it did, the trademark owner has two months from the date of the notice to petition for relief. Notice is two months from the date of the notice, not two months from the actual date of receipt.
If the trademark owner did not receive a notice, it has six months from the date the USPTO records reflect the abandonment/cancellation/expiration to make a petition for relief. If extraordinary circumstances exist, a petition may be possible after the six month period has lapsed, but it is a very difficult standard to meet.

The application can be electronically filed through the TEAS system on the official Trademark Office website. The filing fee for most petitions is $100 for electronically filed petitions. The fee is doubled for paper submissions. The forms and information for filing these petitions can be found at https://www.uspto.gov/trademarks-application-process/filing-online/petition-forms