Can i use expired trademark [Fact Checked]

Last updated : Aug 25, 2022

What happens if your trademark expires?

Registering your trademark ensures you maintain exclusive rights to the mark. If you don't renew on time, you lose your rights. Your competitor would be within their full legal right to come in and claim ownership.

How do I revive an expired trademark?

How can you revive a canceled trademark registration? The USPTO will usually send a notice of cancellation or expiration. Within two months of the date of the cancellation/expiration notice, the registration owner must file a petition to revive with all the necessary requirements and fees.

How long does a trademark last if not used?

A federal trademark lasts 10 years from the date of registration, with 10-year renewal terms. Between the fifth and sixth year after the registration date, the registrant must file an affidavit to state that the mark is still in use.

How do you buy a dead trademark?

To claim the dead trademark you will need to complete an application with the USPTO. Provide your name and address, the name of the dead mark, a statement as to the goods and services that you wish to sell under the mark and a statement as to whether you have attempted to register the mark previously.

Why would a trademark be dead?

A dead trademark is an indicator by the U.S. Patent and Trademark office that a trademark application or registration is no longer actively pending. A trademark will be marked dead when a trademark registration is not renewed or when an applicant does not timely respond to an office action or notice of allowance.

Can I use an abandoned patent?

2) Can I use an abandoned patent? No, you cannot use an abandoned patent application because the applicant has an opportunity to revive the patent application and reply to the office action if the delay was unintentionally caused.

Can you lose a trademark if you don't protect it?

If you don't enforce your trademark, you risk losing reputation, business, sales, customers, and more to the infringer. There's also a concept in trademark law called abandonment. Generally, if you don't use your mark for three years or more, it's considered abandoned.

How long does it take to lose a trademark?

The Loss of Trademark Rights You can lose a mark through abandonment. A mark will be considered abandoned if you stop using it for three consecutive years and you have no intent to resume its use. You can also lose a mark through improper licensing or improper assignment.

How long can you hold a trademark?

How long does a trademark last in the US? In the United States, a federal trademark can potentially last forever, but it has to be renewed every ten years. If the mark is still being used between the 5th and the 6th year after it was registered, then the registration can be renewed.

What is the difference between a live and dead trademark?

Once a trademark is registered, the registrant must maintain it by filing a declaration of continued use to keep the registration alive. A dead trademark registration is one whose registration was abandoned before it was issued, or for which no declaration of continued use was filed.

Can you steal an abandoned patent?

The answer is no as you were not the first to invent whatever is in the abandoned patent. If you mean by "take" that you can make or use the ideas in the abandoned patent application, then the answer is yes as an abandoned application cannot be used to stop you from doing what is in that application.

Can a patent be renewed after 20 years?

No, you cannot renew a patent for an additional 20-year term. Utility patents have a 20-year term and design patents have a 15-year term. Patents rights are discharged discharged into the public domain when they expire. Under some circumstances, the patent term may be extended.

What happens after 20 years of a patent?

Hence, the life span for a patent in India is 20 years from the date of filing the patent application. You simply cannot extend the life of the patent. After its lifespan expires, the invention no longer enjoys patent protection and the invention becomes a part of the public domain.

Can you trademark a name already in use but not trademarked?

1. Can You File for a Trademark That Exists? Updated November 12, 2020: If you're wondering, "can you trademark something that already exists," the simple answer is "no." Generally speaking, if somebody has used a trademark before you, you can't register the trademark for yourself.

Can you have a trademark without registering?

An unregistered trademark is a mark that has not been registered at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (or at any of the state trademark offices). Owners of unregistered trademarks nevertheless have legal rights within the geographic areas in which they operate.

Can I rent my trademark?

A Trademark Owner can Lease the mark for other entities(companies) for certain duration.

What invalidates a trademark?

Trademark Invalidation If the registration is less than five years old, the party challenging the trademark rights can rely on any ground that could have prevented registration initially. The likelihood of confusion and descriptiveness is the most common grounds asserted to invalidate trademark rights.

What are the 3 types of trademarks?

What you'll learn: Arbitrary and Fanciful Trademarks. Suggestive Trademarks. Descriptive Trademarks.

How many times can you renew a trademark?

There's no limit to the number of times you can renew your trademark. You can and should continue to renew your registration every 10 years, as long as you're still using the trademark in commerce and in the ways described in your registration. With continued renewal, your trademark can conceivably last forever.

What does an inactive trademark mean?

“A dead or abandoned status for a trademark application means that specific application is no longer under prosecution within the USPTO, and would not be used as a bar against your filing.” While you can register a dead mark, other potential issues may make it not worth the risk.

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Write a comment

hello my name is Ruth Carter and I'm a licensed attorney in Arizona and this is your question of the day somebody asked me is it possible to buy an expired or dead trademark can I buy a dead trademark from the USPTO okay so if you go on the US Patent and Trademark Office trademark database you can look up every trademark that has ever been applied for some of these are listed as live which means that their application is pending or the applet or the trademark has been registered and some of the marks are listed as dead dead marks are ones that were either never registered or they were registered but then they weren't renewed so they no longer either they never had or they no longer have trademark protection under u.s. trademark law for registration they've made if the company's still using it they they'll still have at least common law rights on their mark so can you buy a dead mark from the USPTO no you don't buy trademarks from the US Patent and Trademark Office you would you could buy a trademark from the person or company that owns it if if they're willing to sell it if they start still using it a trademark that has not been used in commerce continuously for three years is considered abandoned under US law so at that point no one owns it so you would have to look at the totality of the circumstances to determine is this a trademark that is still owned by somebody or because if it is then you have to buy it if you want to use that same trademark on the same type of goods but if it's a trademark that no one's that no one's ever registered and no one's using it hasn't used for at least three years you may not need to buy it from anybody it just may be free for free for the using so these situations come down to the specific so please hire a lawyer to look into the status of the trademark that you want to use or acquire before you start using it because you may be setting yourself up for some pretty big legal issues so of course watching this video does not create an attorney-client relationship with any viewer this is merely legal information not legal advice if you need legal advice don't hire somebody but I hope this has been helpful hope it gives you a starting a starting point to do your own research and seek out legal counsel for your situation I put out new content every week so please subscribe to the channel and until then I will catch up with you later take care

Thanks for your comment Joane Mauck, have a nice day.
- Nickolas Alberding, Staff Member

if the trademark registration has lapsed can i use it i'm going to answer that question in the next four minutes i'm angela langlotz trademark and copyright attorney i'm going to spend our time today answering a viewer question so jason bowden distal this is for you jason messaged me and he asked i have a question if a trademark is dead or cancelled and a company hasn't used it within 10 or more years is it safe to register it for my company okay so you go into the trademark database you see the mark that you want to file and you go to look at it and it's dead it's dead so you think wahoo i can use it well not so fast not so fast you might not be able to use it we need to do a little bit more digging now remember that trademark rights are acquired through use right not just registration you have to keep using the mark in order to maintain your trademark rights if you don't use the mark then your trademark rights can be lost irrespective of your registration status so we have to very carefully look at this so just because somebody had their trademark lapse okay and it can lapse for a number of reasons it could have been cancelled can be canceled for non-renewal it can be cancelled because somebody else filed a cancellation proceeding against that trademark it can be cancelled because somebody went in and said we are abandoning this trademark okay so we have to look at the record and see exactly what happened if it's cancelled because somebody else filed a cancellation proceeding then we probably want to investigate whether the people that filed the cancellation proceeding are still using the trademark that they were using when they filed the trademark cancellation proceeding because that mark that they they were using was probably the reason why they had the trademark registration in question canceled right we also have to look at this just because a mark is canceled that doesn't mean that you can still use it because a subsequent applicant may have come in between the time the trademark registration lapsed and the time that you looked at it and got all excited there may have been someone else come in and register a mark that now would be considered confusingly similar to the mark that you're proposing to use so the the bottom line is you really need to look at the record and consider all of the possibilities when you are looking at using any mark not just an abandoned mark but in general if somebody hasn't used a trademark for a number of years we usually say two if you haven't used the trademark and you don't have what we call excusable non-use then the trademark rights would lapse you may still have a trademark registration but somebody could come in and petition to cancel your mark for non-use so if you don't use your trademark the bottom line is you're likely to you to lose it either because you can't renew because you're no longer using the mark or because somebody else sees that you're no longer using it and files a cancellation proceeding so either of those things are possible and there's always the wild card of some intervening filing going on that may also affect your ability to use that trademark that's been canceled so jason i hope this helps you i'm going to tag you in this video so that you know that i answered your question if anyone else has questions you can drop them into the comments underneath the video i will answer them in a future live if you would like more trademark goodness i have a youtube channel you can just go to youtube and search trademark doctor you'll find me there you can also find me on facebook at facebook.com forward slash trademark doctor and online at trademarkdoctor.net

Thanks Jose your participation is very much appreciated
- Nickolas Alberding

About the author

Nickolas Alberding

I've studied finite element analysis at The University of Tennessee Health Science Center in Memphis and I am an expert in marxian economics. I usually feel enthralled. My previous job was soldier I held this position for 30 years, I love talking about pickleball and photoshop. Huge fan of Sarah Jessica Parker I practice fly-fishing and collect vintage guitars.