Post–Registration: Tips for Maintaining Your Federal Trademark Registration

Federal trademark registration is a significant tool to protect your brand. At its core, a trademark serves as an identifier of the source and quality of goods or services. Brand owners invest time and effort into building goodwill behind their trademarks.  Registering your trademark through the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) creates rights throughout the entire United States and its territories.

The registration process is not the end of the story, however. Trademark owners must take ongoing steps to maintain their trademark after the registration issues.

One of the benefits of U.S trademark registration is that trademark rights can last in perpetuity, so long as you continue to use the mark properly and maintain your federal registration. U.S. trademark laws provide protection for “live” trademarks, so if you do not take the required steps to maintain your rights, you could lose them.

The following are core requirements to maintain a federal trademark registration:

1. Continue to use your trademark in interstate commerce;
2. Continue to use your trademark properly;
3. File registration maintenance documents with the USPTO at required times; and
4. Keep your correspondence information updated with the USPTO.

Continued Use in Interstate Commerce

Federal trademark protection only extends to marks that are used in commerce that Congress can regulate. Therefore, your mark must be used in interstate commerce – i.e., business that crosses state or international lines. This is a requirement to obtain your registration and to maintain the registration once it issues. If you stop using your trademark with no intention to use it again, this is referred to as “abandonment.”

The purpose behind requiring trademark owners to periodically file maintenance documents is to ensure that the trademarks accorded federal rights continue to be used in interstate commerce.

Proper Use of a Trademark

Another requirement to maintain trademark rights is to use the trademark properly. A trademark should not be used in a manner that destroys its significance as an indicator of source of the goods or services. For example, a trademark should not be used as a noun or a verb, or used in a plural or possessive form.

In order to protect a mark as a brand, it should be used as an adjective that modifies a noun, for example, NIKE® shoes instead of “Nike” or “Nikes.”

Trademark owners’ actions are not the only way a mark can lose rights in this way. Trademark owners should make sure third parties properly use their marks in publications, including articles that discuss the goods or services. Trademark owners should also monitor any licensees, distributors, or customers to ensure proper use of trademarks.

USPTO Maintenance Deadlines

The USPTO sets specific maintenance deadlines for federal registrations that are based off the federal registration date. The first maintenance deadline is six (6) years after the registration date. After this first deadline, the registration must be renewed every ten (10) years measured from the registration date. At each of these deadlines, a trademark owner must file proof of their continued use in commerce, along with maintenance fees.

For example, if a federal registration issues March 26, 2025, the first maintenance deadline would be March 26, 2031 (6 years), the second maintenance deadline would be March 26, 2035, and subsequent maintenance deadlines would be in 2045, etc.

If you fail to file the required documents and fees by the maintenance deadline, your trademark registration will be cancelled. You would then need to refile a new trademark application if you wanted to regain nationwide protection for your mark. In other words, you would be starting the registration process all over again.

Current Correspondence Information

The USPTO sends out a courtesy reminder one year before a maintenance deadline, and that communication will go to whatever email address(es) you have on file at the USPTO. Therefore, if you do not keep your contact information current, you may miss this important reminder.
Trademark attorneys typically enter maintenance deadlines for their clients’ trademarks into their docketing system. This provides internal reminders of the upcoming deadlines as a back up to the USPTO communication system.

As with all intellectual property, there are many nuances to the above concepts. An experienced trademark attorney can help you with questions or issues that arise after a registration issues.

Do you have questions about trademarks?  Feel free to contact us.  We help clients of all sizes, across industries, and based in many countries obtain and maintain their US trademark rights.

Legal Disclaimer: The information provided herein is not legal advice. Transmission of this information is not intended to create, and receipt by you does not constitute an attorney-client relationship. Although effort has been made to ensure that the answers are correct, Weaver Legal and Consulting LLC and the associated author cannot and do not offer any warranty, whether express or implied, that the answers contained are accurate statements of law. This document is provided for informational purposes only. You should not act upon any information without first seeking advice from a qualified attorney outside the context of this article. 

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