How to Renew a Trademark: Section 8 and Section 15 Declarations Explained

Getting a trademark registered is only the beginning. Once the USPTO issues your registration certificate, a clock starts ticking on a series of maintenance requirements that most trademark owners don't learn about until they're in danger of losing their mark. Missing these deadlines can result in your registration being cancelled — even if you've been using the mark continuously for decades.

This guide explains every renewal deadline, what you need to file, what it costs, and what happens if you miss a window.

Why Trademarks Don't Last Automatically

Unlike copyright (which lasts for the author's life plus 70 years) or patents (which expire after 20 years), trademark protection is theoretically indefinite — but only if you actively maintain it. The USPTO requires periodic proof that you're still actually using the mark in commerce. A registered trademark that's been abandoned in practice shouldn't continue to block other users, and the maintenance system enforces this principle.

The maintenance filing system is built on two core documents: the Section 8 Declaration (proof of continued use) and the Section 9 Application for Renewal (renewal of the registration term). A third filing, the Section 15 Declaration, is optional but highly valuable.

The Section 8 Declaration: Years 5–6

The first major maintenance filing comes between the 5th and 6th anniversary of your registration date. This is a Section 8 Declaration of Continued Use (or Excusable Nonuse).

To file, you must submit:

• A signed declaration stating the mark is currently in use in commerce (or explaining why it isn't)
• A specimen showing current use — a product label, screenshot of a website, advertising material
• The filing fee (currently $325 per class, filed through the USPTO's Trademark Center)

If you miss the 5-to-6 year window, you have a 6-month grace period (years 6 to 6.5) to file with an additional $100 per class surcharge. Miss the grace period entirely, and your registration is cancelled.

The Section 15 Declaration: Optional But Powerful

At the same time as your Section 8 filing (or anytime after 5 continuous years of use), you can file a Section 15 Declaration of Incontestability. This is one of the most valuable and underused tools in trademark law.

After a successful Section 15 filing, your mark becomes "incontestable" — meaning it can no longer be challenged on the grounds that it is merely descriptive or lacks distinctiveness. The mark is conclusively presumed valid. This dramatically strengthens your position in any future infringement dispute.

The Section 15 fee is $250 per class. Combined with Section 8, you're looking at $575 per class for the year-5 maintenance window — one of the best investments in your trademark portfolio.

The Section 8 + Section 9 Renewal: Years 9–10

Between the 9th and 10th anniversary of registration, you must file a combined Section 8 and Section 9. The Section 9 is the actual renewal of the registration for another 10-year term.

Requirements are similar to the year-5 filing — a specimen, a declaration of continued use, and fees. After this, renewals repeat every 10 years indefinitely. Each renewal window runs from the 9th to 10th anniversary of the previous renewal (not the original registration date, which matters as the years compound).

What Counts as a Valid Specimen

A specimen is proof that you're actually using the mark in commerce. What the USPTO accepts depends on whether your mark covers goods or services:

For goods: A photo of the mark on the product, product packaging, or a tag/label. Screenshots of e-commerce listings where the mark appears near the product and a "buy" button. The mark must appear on or in direct association with the product itself — a business card or letterhead doesn't qualify for goods.

For services: Advertising materials, screenshots of a website where services are offered under the mark, brochures, or promotional materials. The connection between the mark and the services must be clear.

Common rejection reasons: the mark in the specimen looks different from the registered mark, the mark appears only in the company name rather than on goods/services, or the specimen is undated and the examiner can't verify it's current.

How Many Registrations Survive the First Deadline

The year-5 filing sounds like a formality. The records say otherwise. We took every U.S. registration issued in 2018 — 253,967 of them, leaving out international registrations filed through the Madrid system, which follow a different maintenance route — and checked what happened at their first Section 8 deadline. For all of them, the window and the six-month grace period had closed by mid-2025. The remaining 1% ended some other way — surrendered or cancelled for other reasons, for example.

• 45.6% had a Section 8 declaration filed and accepted, in full or for some of the goods and services.
• 53.4% were cancelled under Section 8 — no acceptable declaration came in, so the registration ended.
• 29.4% also filed a Section 15 declaration of incontestability, usually alongside the Section 8.

So more registrations from that year were lost at the first deadline than kept. Some of those owners simply stopped using the mark — a business closed, a product was dropped — and letting the registration go was the right call. But the data can't separate a deliberate decision from a missed deadline, and the cost of the second is a fresh application, a new filing date and a new examination.

How we counted: these figures come from our analysis of the USPTO's public trademark data, current to September 30, 2026. A registration counts as maintained if its record shows an accepted Section 8 declaration, and as cancelled if it shows a Section 8 cancellation. They are our own calculations, not statistics published by the USPTO.

Don't Count on the USPTO's Reminder

This is the most important practical point. The USPTO does send courtesy email reminders before maintenance deadlines — but only to the email address in its records, and it says plainly that you must file on time even if no reminder arrives. If your email changed, your attorney retired, or the message landed in spam, the registration is still cancelled when the window closes. The responsibility for tracking deadlines rests with the trademark owner.

If you work with a trademark attorney, they will typically track these deadlines as part of their ongoing representation. If you manage your marks yourself, you need a system — a calendar reminder, a docketing spreadsheet, or a trademark management tool — set years in advance.

The TSDR (Trademark Status and Document Retrieval) system on the USPTO website shows your registration date and can help you calculate upcoming deadlines. Enter the serial or registration number in TSDR to see the full filing history.

What Happens If Your Registration Is Cancelled

If you miss the maintenance window and the grace period without filing, your registration is cancelled. This means:

• You lose the federal registration and all its benefits (constructive notice, right to use ® symbol, presumption of validity)
• You may retain common law rights if you've been using the mark, but these are geographically limited
• A third party can now register the same or similar mark for the same goods/services
• You would need to file a new application and restart the registration process

Cancelled registrations appear in the USPTO database with a "Cancelled" or "Expired" status. Searching for them in the USPTO's Trademark Search (dead marks included) is useful both for cautionary examples and for research into potentially available marks.

Current USPTO Filing Fees (2025 Fee Schedule, Still in Effect)

Fees are for online filings through the USPTO's Trademark Center (Section 8 rose from $225 to $325 per class in the 2025 fee schedule). Paper filings cost significantly more. Always verify current fees at USPTO.gov before filing.

Frequently Asked Questions

When are U.S. trademark renewal filings due?

Between the 5th and 6th year after registration you must file a Section 8 declaration of continued use; between the 9th and 10th year, a combined Section 8 and Section 9 renewal; then every 10 years thereafter. Each window has a 6-month grace period with surcharge — missing it cancels the registration.

What evidence does a renewal require?

A specimen showing the mark in current use for each class — product labels, packaging, website screenshots showing the goods for sale, or service marketing. The mark as used must match the mark as registered; significant drift between them is a common refusal ground.

What happens if some goods in my registration are no longer sold?

Delete them. Declaring use for goods you no longer offer exposes the entire registration to fraud-based cancellation. The USPTO also runs random audits of renewal filings, demanding proof of use for additional goods — registrations padded with unused items lose those items or worse.

Do other countries follow the same renewal schedule?

Most countries require renewal every 10 years but without the U.S.-style use declarations — though separate non-use cancellation rules still apply. Madrid Protocol registrations renew centrally at WIPO every 10 years, covering all designated countries in one filing.