You may have spent the past 12 to 18 months applying to register your trademark. You may be relieved to have completed this extensive process and can now reap the benefits of brand recognition. However, you must know that you can jeopardize your hard-earned brand recognition if you forget to renew your trademark registration on time. With that being said, continue reading to learn how to renew your trademark registration and how an experienced New Jersey trademark lawyer at The Ingber Law Firm can walk you through this essential process.
Do I need to renew my trademark registration?
Most forms of intellectual property, such as copyrights, are only granted effectiveness and protection for a limited time. But trademarks are unique in that they may last perpetually. Importantly, though, this benefit is so long as a registered mark is continuously used in commerce and relevant to the products and services it represents. Plus, this may only be possible if you periodically renew your mark’s registration.
With your initial trademark registration, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) may grant you 10 years of effectiveness and protection. However, you must file a declaration of continued use with the USPTO between the fifth and sixth years after your mark’s registration date. This declaration must also be filed between the ninth and tenth years, and every 10 years thereafter. You must understand that if you miss any of these deadlines by more than six months, the USPTO may cancel your mark’s registration.
What happens if I do not renew my trademark registration?
The need for trademark registration renewal goes far beyond compliance. That is, the USPTO mainly enforces this renewal requirement to weed out dormant or abandoned marks. So the last thing you may want is to have the USPTO assume that you are purposefully violating its standards of practice or that your brand has ceased to exist.
Further, if you miss any of your important renewal deadlines, you may run the risk of canceling your legal protection. Subsequently, you may leave your mark vulnerable to being detrimentally infringed upon. Ultimately, you may face the dilution of your brand’s identity and recognition, which you may have worked so hard to build up in the first place. Of note, you may find it too difficult or too late to renew your mark’s registration if another party has begun to use it legally after its expiration date.
At the end of the day, if you have any lingering doubts about the trademark renewal process, a skilled Essex County, New Jersey intellectual property lawyer at The Ingber Law Firm can help relieve them. So whenever you are ready to start this application process, please reach out to our law office.
