You’ve successfully registered that precious trademark that uniquely identifies your product as …. yours. Congratulations. Remember, however, that trademark registrations need to be maintained, or else you run the risk of having your mark canceled … terminated … lost …. gone. It would be a good idea to calendar these dates.

Section 8 Declaration — Between the 5th and 6th years of the date of registration, you are required to file with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office a Section 8 Declaration of Continued Use. Why? So that the Trademark office knows that you are still utilizing the monopoly in your trademark that you received upon registration of the mark. If you aren’t using it, they would like to free up that mark for someone else to use. As part of the Section 8 filing, you must submit an example of the trademark as you are actually using it. That means an image of a label, hang tag, point of sale advertising, website or one of the other acceptable examples set out in the rules of the Trademark off.

Section 9 Renewal  — Between the 9th and 10th years of the date of registration, you are required to file a combined Section 8 Declaration (to make sure you are still using the mark) AND a Section 9 Renewal Application. Again, it is important that you include a proper example of how you are using the mark in commerce. This combined Section 8 and Section 9 filing is then required prior to the end of each subsequent 10 year period.

If you miss any of these filings (including the 6 month grace period), your mark will be canceled … period. There is no procedure for remedying your failure to maintain the mark. Rather, you must apply for registration all over again.