A trademark can give you the right to prevent others from using the same, or a confusingly similar, mark you use with your goods or services. But how long does a trademark last? Trademarks can last indefinitely if you continue using the mark and consumers continue to recognize it as identifying the source of your goods or services. If you federally register the trademark, you receive additional protections, but you must submit required maintenance and renewal filings at specific times to keep the registration active.
Jones IP Law helps businesses protect trademarks throughout their life cycles. Michael Jones advises clients ranging from solo business owners to Fortune 500 companies. I can review use, prepare United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) filings, structure licenses, and help enforce your rights against infringement.
How Long Can a Trademark Last?
A trademark is a word, phrase, symbol, design, or other feature that you use with your goods or services that allows consumers to identify you as the source of those goods or services. When you use your mark in connection with your trade, that use can establish trademark rights in the geographic area where you use the mark that can prevent others from using the same or a confusingly similar mark for related goods or services.
Federal registration adds nationwide protections to the rights you develop through use. Registration creates a nationwide presumption that you own the mark and have the exclusive right to use it in connection with the registered goods or services, but it does not replace your need to use the trademark.
So, how long does trademark protection last when you have not registered the mark? Your rights can continue indefinitely as long as you continue to use the mark and consumers continue recognizing it as yours.
How long does a trademark registration last, then? A federal registration lasts for 10 years, subject to a continued-use maintenance filing between years five and six. You can renew the mark for additional 10-year terms indefinitely, so long as you continue to use the mark in connection with your goods or services.
If your registration expires while you continue to use the mark, you may retain the limited geographic rights that arise through use. However, you lose the broader, nationwide protections provided by federal registration.
How Can a Trademark End?
Federal registration and the underlying trademark rights can end in several ways. The USPTO may cancel or allow a registration to expire when its owner fails to make required filings. Your trademark rights can also end if you abandon the mark through nonuse, consumers come to understand it as a product or service name, or uncontrolled licensing prevents it from identifying a consistent source.
Missed Maintenance or Renewal Filings
To maintain your trademark registration, you must periodically confirm that you still use the mark for the registered goods or services, provide an example showing that use, and pay a fee for each class. A class is a USPTO category of related goods or services. You complete these requirements at three stages:
- A Section 8 filing between years five and six, currently $325 per class, confirming continued use;
- A combined Section 8 and Section 9 filing between years nine and ten, currently $650 per class, confirming continued use and renewing the registration;
- Every 10 years afterward, currently $650 per class.
Each filing period includes a six-month grace period. A late Section 8 filing costs an additional $100 per class, while a late combined Sections 8 and 9 filing costs an additional $200 per class. If you miss the grace period deadline, the USPTO may cancel the registration or allow it to expire, and you generally must submit a new application to register the mark again.
Abandonment Through Nonuse
Because your trademark rights depend on use, you can abandon them by stopping use with no intent to resume it. After three consecutive years of nonuse, the law presumes that you abandoned the mark.
Your use must also correspond to the goods or services listed in your registration. If you registered a mark for shirts and shoes but now use it only for shirts, the registration may no longer cover shoes if you stop selling them.
Genericization
Continued use supports your trademark rights, while consumers understand the mark to identify the source of your goods or services. If consumers instead begin using the mark as the common name for a type of product or service, the mark becomes generic. Because the term no longer identifies a source, you may lose the exclusive right to use it. My Genericization series explains how marks such as Escalator and Thermos became product names in consumers’ minds.
Uncontrolled Licensing
You can license your trademark by giving another business permission to use it for specified goods or services. Businesses license trademarks to expand into new products or markets, allow manufacturers or franchisees to operate under their brands, and earn licensing revenue.
Consumers who encounter the trademark on a licensee’s goods or services should still be able to expect consistent quality associated with the brand. You must therefore set quality standards and check whether the licensee follows them. If you allow a licensee to use the mark without meaningful oversight, the mark may stop identifying goods or services controlled by a consistent source. Courts call this “naked licensing,” and it can result in the abandonment of your trademark rights.
Maintain Your Trademark with Jones IP Law
Keeping a trademark protected requires continued use, proper brand management, and USPTO filings. At Jones IP Law, I personally oversee client strategies and combine federal trademark experience with practical business guidance. I offer transparent pricing and tailored support for businesses protecting one mark or managing a growing portfolio. Contact Jones IP Law’s Brooklyn office to request a strategic IP consultation.
Frequently Asked Questions
How Often Do You Have to Renew a Trademark?
You renew a federal registration between the 9th and 10th anniversaries and every 10 years afterward. You must also confirm continued use between the 5th and 6th anniversaries.
Can a Trademark Last Forever?
Yes. Trademark rights can last indefinitely as long as you continue using the mark and consumers recognize it as identifying a source. A federal registration can also continue indefinitely if you submit each required maintenance and renewal filing.
What Happens If You Don’t Renew Your Trademark?
Your federal registration expires if you miss the renewal period and the six-month grace period. Continued use may support limited geographic trademark rights where consumers recognize the mark, but you lose the nationwide protections provided by registration.
What Is the Difference Between a Section 8 and Section 9 Filing?
A Section 8 declaration confirms continued use for the registered goods or services. A Section 9 application requests another 10-year registration term.
Does a Trademark Expire If You Stop Using It?
Stopping use can end your rights if you also intend not to resume use. After three consecutive years of nonuse, the law presumes that you abandoned the mark.
Legal References Used to Inform This Page
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