United Kingdom
Trademarks filed with UKIPO must be renewed every 10 years. You can renew a trademark in the 6 months before it expires and up to 6 months afterwards.
Fees:
Online renewal costs £200 for the first class of goods or services your trade mark is in and £50 for each extra class. You can reduce the number of classes at the time you renew.
Late renewal costs an extra £50. You must include a written statement explaining why you did not renew on time. Your trademark will only be renewed if the Intellectual Property Office is satisfied with your statement.
You can renew your trademark online, or fill in the trademark renewal form and post it to the UKIPO.
European Union
A registered European Union Trademark applies for ten years from the date the application is filed. It can be renewed every ten years indefinitely. It is your responsibility to make sure you observe the time limit for renewal. However, the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) will generally inform you or your representative six months before expiry that your trade mark is due for renewal. Any other person holding a right to your EU trade mark, e.g. a licensee, will also be informed by the Office. The renewal should be done, and the renewal fee must be paid within the six months preceding your mark's expiry date. The form may be submitted right up until the expiry of the registration. If you have failed to observe the time limit but still wish to renew your mark, you can still do so for six months after the expiry date, but there is a 25% surcharge. You cannot change your trademark when renewing it. You can restrict the list of goods and services you applied for ten years ago, but you cannot add goods or services.
Fees:
Online renewal costs €850 for one class, €50 for the second class and €150 for the third and more). You can renew your trademark online.
Paper renewal sent by post costs €1 000 for one class.
If you want to maintain your trade mark in certain Member States only, you can do so by converting your EU trade mark into national registrations. Check the full list of national offices.
The United States
When applying for a trademark through USPTO, the applicants are required to show that they're using their trademark. However, demonstrating trademark use once isn't enough. You must regularly demonstrate use throughout the life of your trademark if you want to maintain your registration and keep its benefits.
Typically, when you file a required maintenance document, you'll submit a signed declaration saying that you're continuing to use your trademark with the goods and services in your registration. You'll also submit one specimen for each class of goods or services.
There is a six-month grace period after each deadline for the submission of maintenance documents. You can file during the grace period, but you'll need to pay an additional fee. If you don't file before the end of the grace period, your registration will be cancelled or deemed expired.
Fees:
Filing Declaration of Use after 5 Years (§8 declaration): $225 per class (if filed before the grace period);
Filing Declaration of Use after 5 years (§8 declaration) combined with Declaration of Incontestability (§15 declaration): $425 per class (if filed before the grace period);
Filing Declaration of Use and Application for Renewal every 10 years (Combined §8 declaration and §9 renewal): $525 per class (if filed before the grace period).
You can find a full list of Registration Maintenance/Renewal/Correction forms here.
China
The registered trademark has the validity of 10 years from the registration date in China. The trademark owner can request to renew the mark within 1 year before the expiration date. If the mark is not renewed in time, the trademark can still be renewed in the grace period of 6 months after the expiration date. If the trademark is still not renewed in the grace period, it will be canceled by the China Trademark Office, irreversibly.
Requirements for trademark renewal in China:
The scan copy of trademark owner's identity certificate. Individual requires the personal, while the company requires the company certificate/business license;
A scan copy of the trademark registration certificate;
Official fee for the trademark renewal.
Fees:
Renewal fee: $539 (including official fee $160) Renewal is filed within 1 year before the expiration date.
Extra fee in grace period: $105 (including official fee $40) Renewal is filed within 6 months after the expiration date.
Keeping track of your trademarks and renewals across multiple territories over an extended period of time can prove confusing at best, and at worst it can leave you with a sky-high bill without you knowing why or how you could have avoided it. Depending on the territory, the trademark office might not inform you of your renewal deadlines, so it’s important to keep track of your marks in different territories. Otherwise, you may run the risk of exorbitant late fees or even losing your trademark ownership. If you require any help with trademark renewals, book a free consultation with us and learn more about our trademark renewal solutions.
