Getting a trademark registered feels like the finish line. It isn't. A federal registration is a maintenance obligation with hard deadlines, and missing one can cancel a mark you spent years building.
The maintenance calendar
- Section 8 — Declaration of Use. Due between the 5th and 6th anniversary of registration. You confirm (with proof) that you're still using the mark. There's a six-month grace period with a surcharge — miss it entirely and the registration is cancelled.
- Section 15 — Incontestability. Optional, available after five years of continuous use. Filing it (usually combined with the §8) makes your registration far harder for others to challenge. A powerful, underused shield.
- Sections 8 & 9 — Renewal. Due between the 9th and 10th anniversary, then every ten years after that, for the life of the mark. Same six-month grace, same cancellation risk.
The prosecution deadlines before you even register
- Office action response — you generally have three months to respond to an examiner's refusal (extendable once for another three, with a fee).
- Statement of Use — if you filed based on intent to use, you have six months after the Notice of Allowance to prove actual use, with up to five extensions.
Why this is the real business
These deadlines are years apart, easy to forget, and unforgiving. That's exactly why docketing and monitoring — automatic alerts as each deadline approaches — is the most valuable ongoing service a trademark owner can have. A calendar reminder is cheap insurance against losing a brand outright.