Trademark Deadline Calculator

Most lost trademarks aren't lost in a fight. They lapse because a date passed. We followed every U.S. application filed between January and June 2024: of those abandoned by September 30, 2026, 61.1% were abandoned for not answering the USPTO in time, and another 31.9% because no Statement of Use was filed. After registration it doesn't get easier: 53.4% of U.S. registrations issued in 2018 were cancelled at their first Section 8 deadline. Fill in whichever dates you have.

The Rules Behind Each Date

Office Action: three months, plus three. For applications filed under Sections 1 and 44, you have three months from the issue date to respond. You can buy one three-month extension for $125, but only if you ask before the first three months run out. Madrid-based applications get six months.

Statement of Use: six months, up to 36. After a notice of allowance, an intent-to-use applicant has six months to file a Statement of Use or ask for more time. The first six-month extension is granted on request. Four more are possible, each requiring a showing of good cause, and together they can't run past 36 months from the notice of allowance. Each extension costs $125 per class.

Section 8: the year before the sixth anniversary. The first declaration of use is due within the year before the sixth anniversary of registration, and then within the year before every tenth anniversary. There is a six-month grace period after each deadline, with a surcharge. After that, the registration is cancelled.

Section 9: renewal every ten years. The renewal goes in with the ten-year Section 8 declaration, any time in the year before the tenth anniversary, with the same six-month grace period.

Section 15: optional, after five years of use. Once a mark on the Principal Register has been in continuous use for five consecutive years after registration, you can file a declaration of incontestability within one year after that five-year period ends. Most owners file it together with the first Section 8. It isn't available while a proceeding over your rights is pending, or after a final decision against your claim of ownership.

How the Calculator Counts

Months and years are added to the calendar date. When the target month is shorter — 31 August plus six months, say — we show the last day of that month, which is the earlier and safer reading. If a deadline falls on a Saturday or Sunday, the table flags it: USPTO rules let you file on the next day that isn't a weekend or federal holiday in the District of Columbia. We don't track federal holidays, so check those yourself. Your Office Action or notice can set a different period; if it does, the notice wins.