How Long Does It Take To Register Your Trademark

The federal trademark application and registration process isn't quick. Accept a await at the Trademark Timeline infographic below, and you'll run across that the total time from awarding filing to registration could vary—anywhere from seven months to two years or more!

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) processes all federal trademark applications, and according to the USPTO website:

"It is difficult to predict exactly how long it will take an application to mature into a registration, because there are and then many factors that tin can affect the process. However, the total fourth dimension for an awarding to be processed may be anywhere from almost a year to several years, depending on the ground for filing, and the legal issues which may arise in the examination of the application."

After you file your trademark application, you're at the mercy of the USPTO. As you can meet in the Trademark Timeline infographic included at the end of this commodity, information technology could have up to three months for your application to be reviewed after you submit it. And that's just the beginning!

Office Activity Delays

If the Examining Chaser finds issues with your awarding that would keep it from being approved, yous'll receive an Office Action, which yous need to respond to or your application will exist considered abandoned. When you respond to an Function Activeness, the Examiner has to review your response and could determine that information technology wasn't satisfactory. That means you'll go a second or maybe final Role Activeness and the procedure repeats.

You also have the choice to respond to the 2d Office Action or file a Request for Reconsideration of Final Activeness, which enables you to enter boosted evidence supporting your position in the application record and then entreatment the Examiner'southward refusal by submitting a Notice of Appeal to the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board. At that point, your file is sent to the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board and formal litigation will begin, which tin have months or years. Don't allow anyone fool you—federal litigation is serious business organization!

Opposition Period

Once the Examiner determines in that location are no problems with your awarding, information technology goes to publication in the Official Gazette, the official journal of the USPTO, which gives tertiary parties 30 days to oppose the registration of your mark. For example, some other company might claim to have common police rights to the mark that requite information technology priority over your use of the mark.

Any oppositions will delay the procedure. Furthermore, non only can third parties file a Notice of Opposition, but they can file a Request for Extension of Fourth dimension to Oppose, which could brand the process become beyond 30 days.

Registration

Even if no one opposes your marking during the opposition menses, it withal takes two to three months to receive a Certificate of Registration from the USPTO if your awarding was for a mark that is already being used in commerce. At this point, you can use the federal trademark registration symbol.

If your mark was filed based on your intention to use it in commerce (significant y'all oasis't used the marking in interstate commerce yet), you'll receive a Discover of Allowance at this point in the process. You'll have half-dozen months to file an acceptable Statement of Use or Request an Extension of Time to File a Statement of Use to receive an additional six months to put your marking in commercial use (you can file up to five extension requests, effectively extending the pendency of your application for thirty months). When the Statement of Use is approved, your mark volition finally register.

Renewals

Once your trademark is federally registered, the process isn't complete. You lot nevertheless need to follow some trademark renewal and maintenance steps.

Before the 6th year after registration, you demand to file a Declaration of Continued Employ showing that yous're nonetheless using the marking in commerce every bit it was registered.

Finally, earlier the 10th year later on registration, you need to file some other Annunciation of Continued Utilise and an Application for Renewal. If you don't file these documents on time, your federal trademark registration will be cancelled.

3 Ways to Speed up the Trademark Application and Registration Process

There are a few things you lot can practise to speed up the trademark application and registration procedure:

Conduct a comprehensive trademark search before you lot complete and file your application to uncover as many possible conflicts as possible.
Make sure you utilise to annals a stiff marking.
Avoid completing and filing your application yourself or using a cheap legal document service provider. Instead, become help from an intellectual property chaser who specializes in in this area of law and knows the current regulations. He or she can complete and file your awarding in the all-time way to ensure your mark gets the protection information technology needs and your awarding gets through the registration process with as few delays as possible.