A trademark application can be abandoned for several reasons, and in most cases the abandonment is not intentional. A missed deadline, an unanswered Office Action, a response that arrived late, or an administrative oversight can all result in an application being declared abandoned by the USPTO. If that has happened to you, the situation is not necessarily final.
This guide explains what it means to revive an abandoned trademark, what the process involves, when revival is possible, and what to do if it is not.
A trademark application is declared abandoned when a required filing or response is not submitted by the applicable deadline. The most common triggers are missing the deadline to respond to a USPTO Office Action, failing to file a Statement of Use or an Extension of Time request after a Notice of Allowance, and failing to respond to other procedural requirements during examination. The USPTO sends notifications to the email address on record for the application, but missing those notifications does not excuse the missed deadline.
An abandoned application is no longer pending before the USPTO. The application serial number remains in the public record as abandoned, and the trademark is no longer protected by the pending application. This means someone else can file a new application for a confusingly similar mark without your abandoned application blocking them. Your priority date, established by the original filing, is also lost.
The USPTO allows applicants to petition to revive an abandoned trademark application within two months of the mailing date of the abandonment notice. This petition must demonstrate that the failure to respond was unintentional. If the petition is filed within this window and the USPTO accepts the unintentional abandonment claim, the application is restored to pending status and the examination process continues from the point of abandonment.
The unintentional standard is important. It does not mean you simply forgot or were busy. It means that you did not make a deliberate decision to abandon the application. The USPTO distinguishes between situations where the applicant was unaware of the deadline or experienced a genuine administrative error and situations where the applicant simply chose not to respond. If the abandonment resulted from a genuine oversight rather than a deliberate choice, the petition to revive has a reasonable chance of success.
| Step | What Happens | Timeline |
| Check the abandonment date | Identify the mailing date of the abandonment notice | Immediately upon learning of abandonment |
| Confirm you are within the revival window | Calculate whether two months from abandonment notice have passed | As soon as abandonment is discovered |
| File a Petition to Revive | Submit through TEAS with the petition fee and declaration of unintentional abandonment | Before the two-month deadline |
| Pay the petition fee | Current fee is $100 per class | At time of filing |
| Address the underlying issue | Respond to the Office Action or missed filing that caused abandonment | Within the response period granted upon revival |
| USPTO reviews the petition | USPTO examiner reviews the petition and supporting documentation | Several weeks to months |
| Decision issued | USPTO grants or denies the petition | After review |
The explanation of circumstances is one of the most important parts of the petition. The USPTO examiner reviewing the petition will assess whether the explanation is credible and whether it supports a finding of unintentional abandonment. A clear, honest, and specific explanation of what happened, what went wrong, and why it constitutes an oversight rather than a deliberate choice gives the petition the best chance of success. Vague or implausible explanations are more likely to be rejected.
If more than two months have passed since the abandonment notice was mailed, a standard Petition to Revive is no longer available. The USPTO does not offer a general extension of this deadline. At this point, the original application cannot be restored regardless of how unintentional the abandonment was.
The most straightforward option after the revival window has closed is filing a new trademark application, usually after doing a trademark availability check to confirm the mark is still clear. This means starting the examination process from the beginning, paying new filing fees, going through the full examination and publication process again, and losing the priority date of the original application.
The priority date of a trademark application establishes your legal seniority against any later filers of confusingly similar marks. If someone filed a similar mark after your original application but before your new application, they now have an earlier priority date than you. This can create significant complications in the new examination process, potentially resulting in a refusal based on their prior-filed mark or forcing you to negotiate with them.
USPTO deadlines are unforgiving. Set calendar reminders for every deadline related to your trademark applications, including Office Action response dates, Statement of Use filing dates, extension request deadlines, and maintenance filing dates. Set the reminder at least 30 days before the deadline, not on the deadline itself. Many trademark professionals set reminders 60 days ahead to allow time for preparation.
The USPTO sends abandonment notices and other correspondence to the email address on record for the application. If you change email addresses, you must update your USPTO contact information to ensure you receive communications about your applications. Many unintentional abandonments happen because correspondence went to an old email address that is no longer monitored, or because an Office Action was not properly addressed in time.
Reviving an abandoned trademark application is possible when the abandonment was genuinely unintentional and the two-month revival window is still open. Acting quickly when you discover an abandonment is the most important thing you can do. The longer you wait, the more likely the revival window will close and the more limited your options become.
If you are outside the revival window, a new application is the practical path forward, with full awareness that the loss of your priority date may create complications depending on what other applications have been filed in the interval.
Trademark Swyft helps applicants manage every stage of the trademark process, including revival petitions and new filings after abandonment. If your application has been abandoned and you need help understanding your options, reach out to us today.
Yes, if the abandonment was unintentional and the petition is filed within two months of the mailing date of the abandonment notice. The petition must explain the circumstances of the unintentional abandonment and include payment of the $100 per class fee.
The USPTO allows two months from the mailing date of the abandonment notice to file a Petition to Revive. After this window closes, the standard revival process is no longer available and a new application must be filed.
Unintentional abandonment means the deadline was missed due to genuine oversight or administrative error rather than a deliberate decision not to respond. The USPTO distinguishes this from intentional abandonment, where an applicant knowingly chose not to continue the application.
The USPTO Petition to Revive fee is $100 per class of goods or services. A trademark covering two classes costs $200. Attorney fees for preparing and filing the petition are additional. These costs are separate from any filing fees for the response or Statement of Use that must be submitted along with the petition.
If the revival window has passed, you will need to file a new trademark application and restart the examination process. You will lose your original priority date, which means any applications filed after your original filing but before your new one will have an earlier priority date than your new application.
