How Long Does a Trademark Last and What to Do If It Expires

A registered trademark lasts 10 years from the date of registration, but can be renewed indefinitely for additional 10-year terms as long as you prove continued use in commerce and meet USPTO filing requirements. In a sense, a trademark doesn’t expire so long as you use it. And that’s the real risk with trademark renewals: making sure to use the mark, keeping up to date with renewal deadlines, and acting on any infringement. You can automate the last two points with monitoring software.

Why Trademark Duration Is Not Fixed

A trademark is a word, symbol, phrase, or design that identifies your brand and distinguishes it from competitors. It’s a form of intellectual property that gives you legal rights to prevent others from using confusingly similar marks. Unlike patents (which protect inventions) or copyrights (which protect original works), trademarks exist specifically to protect brand identity.

To ensure they won’t get copied or dilluted, startups can register their trademark to protect their brand. But unlike patents, which expire on a fixed date, or copyrights, which last for decades by default, trademark protection doesn’t follow a simple timeline. The answer to “how long does a trademark last?” is counterintuitive to most business owners. In theory, it’s forever, but in practice, it depends on how you maintain and protect the trademark from infringement.

First, let’s go over the basic registration renewal. A registered trademark lasts 10 years from registration. However, that 10-year period isn’t an expiration clock counting down to automatic cancellation. Instead, it’s a window to extend it. Once you do, you’re essentially resetting the clock to another 10 years (which is why you’ll most often do it only a few months before the window ends).

What actually allows you to lose a trademark is inaction, non-use, or failure to meet maintenance requirements. Each one of these has some nuance that you’ll need to research, depending on your trademark, or consult a trademark attorney.

When Trademark Rights Start and Continue

Trademark rights are dependent on a brand name and a company or services for it. You need to explain a genuine connection between your brand and your products or services in the marketplace.

As such, the trademark rights begin when you establish “use in commerce,” meaning you’re actually selling products or services under that brand name that consumers can buy. This is in line with the trademark system being built on the idea that marks protect brands that exist in the real marketplace.

Note that you technically have automatic rights to an unregistered trademark the moment you start using it in commerce. However, registering your mark with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) gives you much stronger legal protection, a nationwide presumption of ownership, and the ability to sue for infringement. A registered trademark is far more defensible than an unregistered one.

So, how long do trademarks last? These rights only continue so long as you’re using the mark. As soon as you stop selling under that brand name or abandon the mark, you lose those rights. Trademarks are tied to actual business activity, not filing paperwork.

Legal Lifespan of a U.S. Trademark Registration

Once you register a trademark with the USPTO, you may wonder, “Do trademarks expire?” Here’s what the legal timeline looks like: Your initial registration lasts 10 years from the date the USPTO approves it. This is your first protection period. However, after those 10 years, you enter a renewal window. In the last few months of the registration, you can renew for another 10-year term, then another, and another, indefinitely.

That “maintenance” involves proving continued use in commerce, filing required documents with the USPTO during specific windows, and paying renewal fees. This is where businesses often get into trouble. The USPTO has specific renewal and filing deadlines, and missing them can cost you your trademark.

5th-6th Year Filing

Between the 5th and 6th year after registration, you must file a Declaration of Use (Section 8 filing) with the USPTO. This proves continued commercial use (i.e. that you have actual sales under the trademark). If you fail to file during this window, your registration can be cancelled.

9th-10th Year Renewal

Between the 9th and 10th year, you can file a Renewal Application to extend your trademark for another 10-year term. You’ll pay the renewal fee and confirm continued use. This filing is separate from the 5th-year filing.

Every 10 Years After

After your first renewal, you can continue extending the trademark every 10 years indefinitely by repeating the process above: year 5-6 file proof of use, year 9-10 application filing. As long as you keep up with them and continue using your trademark, it remains active and enforceable.

Required USPTO Filings to Keep a Trademark Active

Staying on top of trademark maintenance boils down to demonstrating that your mark is actively and continuously used. The USPTO wants specific evidence, such as actual product labels, website screenshots, invoices, and advertising materials. Your filings must include accurate information about how you’re using the mark and for what goods or services.

Consequences of Missing Trademark Deadlines

The USPTO offers a limited grace period of six months after your deadline passes. You can still file and save your trademark, but you’ll pay additional late fees, and you can find out more at the official USPTO page for renewals. If you miss that deadline and don’t file during the grace period, the USPTO automatically cancels your registration, and your trademark rights are gone.

Once trademark cancellation happens, you can’t sue someone for infringement. Without the registered trademark, your legal protection is practically nonexistent. You’ll need to go through the entire registration process again (provided someone else hasn’t beaten you to it).

How Trademark Rights Can Be Lost Before Renewal

Missed deadlines aren’t the only way to lose trademark rights. If you stop using your trademark in commerce for three consecutive years and don’t show any intent to return to using it, the mark is considered abandoned. Even if your registration is technically active, a competitor could challenge it. Then, it can result in a lengthy legal dispute where the new user can get the registration instead.

Apart from not using the mark, you can also lose by being too successful. This is called genericide, where your brand becomes a commonplace term for the product category. This has happened to “Kleenex” for tissues or “Xerox” for copier machines or photocopying in general. Companies actively fight this by insisting the trademark is treated as a brand name, not a generic term.

Competitors or other parties can file legal challenges to cancel your trademark if they can prove you’re not using it, it was obtained fraudulently, or it’s confusingly similar to their earlier mark. If they win, you lose rights.

Long-Term Trademark Protection Strategies

To keep your trademark alive indefinitely, you need to use it in commerce and track renewal deadlines obsessively. Set reminders for those 5-6-year and 9-10-year filings. Monitor for infringement and take action when you see confusingly similar marks. Maintain documentation of use for renewal filings.

What Happens After a Trademark Expires or Is Cancelled?

If your registration is cancelled or expires without renewal, the mark becomes available for anyone to register. Your competitors could claim it. You lose the ability to sue for federal trademark infringement. You can attempt to re-register, but if someone else registered it first, you’re out of luck. Re-registration requires proving that you’re using the trademark again, but also goes through a full examination (same as the first time you registered). It’s far simpler and cheaper to maintain your original registration.

Trademark Duration: Practical Clarifications

The USPTO sends courtesy reminder notices before renewal deadlines. However, you should still make personal reminders whenever you file the documentation. You can check your trademark’s status anytime on the USPTO’s Trademark Search system (TSS), which replaces the older Trademark Electronic Search System database, to confirm it’s still active.

Trademark Costs Over Time

The initial registration costs $250-$350 per class. Section 8 filing for the 5-6 year period will cost $100-$150. The actual renewal will require another $300-$400. Each subsequent renewal follows that pricing outline, and these costs can essentially recur forever as long as you intend to use the mark.

In the grand scheme, though, they’re insignificant compared to potentially losing the trademark. Missing a deadline means losing the trademark entirely, and the possible costs of legal action against competitors can be far larger than filing with the USPTO a few times.

Keep Your Trademark Active, Enforceable, and Defensible

As explained above, trademarks are only enforceable so long as they’re maintained. To do that, you can set up private alerts for filing periods and ensure you’re keeping track of where and when you used the mark.

Alternatively, you can automate the process and protect your trademark over time and avoid costly mistakes with Protect.TM. Our platform helps you track renewal deadlines, manage maintenance requirements, and stay informed about threats to your brand. From detecting confusingly similar trademarks to monitoring for infringement, Protect.TM keeps your brand safe indefinitely. Start managing your trademark portfolio today.

FAQs

How long does trademark protection last compared to copyright or patents?

Trademarks, copyrights, and patents have completely different durations. Patents last 15-20 years and then expire permanently. Copyrights last the life of the author plus 70 years. Trademarks have no fixed expiration—they last indefinitely as long as you maintain them and continue using them in commerce. For brand protection, trademarks are the longest-lasting form of intellectual property protection available.

Are there USPTO reminder notices for renewals?

The USPTO does send courtesy reminder notices, but they’re sent to the email address on file. If your contact information is outdated, you won’t receive them. It’s critical to independently track your renewal deadlines. Many trademark owners use calendar reminders or hire trademark services. Don’t assume a notice will arrive—verify deadlines directly through the USPTO TSS database.

Can an expired trademark be renewed later?

If your trademark registration expires without renewal, you can attempt to re-register it, but the process is complicated. First, the mark may have been claimed by someone else. Second, re-registration requires proving renewed use and intent, and the application goes through full examination again. It’s far simpler and cheaper to maintain your original registration than to deal with re-registration later. Stay current on your renewal deadlines.

How do I know if my trademark is still active?

You can check the USPTO’s TSS database for your trademark. The list is typically as up-to-date as possible.