When the licensor stops maintaining the right: what to do first
When a licensor stops maintaining the right behind your licence — letting a registration lapse, missing a renewal, dropping an opposition or abandoning enforcement — act within days, not weeks. Confirm the register status, secure your own standing to intervene where the rules allow it, and put the licensor on formal notice before any cure period closes.
Legal basis
The applicable regime depends on what right sits under the licence. If the right is a European Union trade mark, renewal, restoration and lapse are governed by Regulation (EU) 2017/1001 (EUTMR). If the right is a unitary patent, maintenance fees and their consequences fall under Regulation (EU) No 1257/2012. If the licensed subject-matter is software, the underlying protection follows Directive 2009/24/EC. If the licensed subject-matter is a database, protection follows Directive 96/9/EC.
None of these instruments obliges the licensor to warn the licensee before a registration lapses; the duty, if any, sits in the licence contract, not in the public register rule.
| Right type | Governing instrument | What "maintaining" typically means |
|---|---|---|
| EU trade mark | Regulation (EU) 2017/1001 (EUTMR) | Timely renewal of the registration |
| Unitary patent | Regulation (EU) No 1257/2012 | Payment of the single renewal fee |
| Software copyright | Directive 2009/24/EC | Continued exploitation; no renewal fee exists |
| Database right | Directive 96/9/EC | Continued use within the protection term |
What changes for you
Once maintenance stops, three clocks start at once. The registration clock runs toward final lapse or removal from the register. The licence clock runs toward frustration, if the right disappears entirely. The enforcement clock runs against you: infringers you once licensed out to may argue there is nothing left to infringe. Delay does not pause any of the three.
What to do first
- Pull the current register extract yourself; do not rely on the licensor's word.
- Write to the licensor requesting confirmation of status and, where the register allows a third party to act, ask for a power to intervene.
- Calendar every date the register shows — renewal window, opposition period, restoration period — and mark the earliest one, not the latest.
- Instruct counsel to file a protective step in your own name if the licensor does not respond within days.
- Suspend royalty payments only after written notice to the licensor and only if the licence terms permit it.
- Keep every notice, extract and file record; the decision below runs on paper, not on recollection.
Who decides
The national or EU intellectual property office holds the register and decides on renewal, restoration and removal, on the evidence its own procedure requires — usually a formal request and a fee, filed within the window the office sets, not the licence. Where the licence dispute goes further, the forum is the one the contract names; absent a clause, the courts at the licensor's seat typically take jurisdiction. Neither body owes the licensee a warning before a lapse becomes final.
If your situation differs
If the register shows an unanswered refusal rather than a simple non-renewal, the position is closer to An office action refuses your application trade mark than to ordinary non-renewal, and the response window is shorter.
If nobody can say who owns the right in the first place, sort out title before you sort out maintenance. That gap often traces back to a bare work-for-hire clause; see What to do first in this situation in detail.
If the right is embedded in a tokenised collection and the artwork behind it belongs to a third party, maintenance failure compounds a separate problem. See When a collection uses third-party artwork in practice for the artwork side of it.
What this page does not cover
This page does not cover the fee schedule of any specific office, the cure periods each register sets, or the drafting of the maintenance clause itself. It does not cover disputes about who caused the lapse — that sits in contract law, not in register law. It does not tell you whether to terminate the licence; that decision follows advice on your specific contract.
Related situations
A related situation covers conflicting terms rather than a lapsed right — see When open source terms conflict with the licence: what.
Verified
Checked: 1 March 2025. Primary sources: Regulation (EU) 2017/1001 (EUTMR); Regulation (EU) No 1257/2012; Directive 2009/24/EC; Directive 96/9/EC. Data protection and processing of any documents you send us follow Privacy notice: two roles, two bases step by step.
FAQ
What is the first step when the licensor stops maintaining the right?
Pull the register extract yourself, immediately. Do not wait for the licensor to confirm; the register is public and the delay is what damages your position.
Which deadline is already running?
At least one clock is already running: renewal, opposition, or restoration, depending on why maintenance stopped. The exact date sits in the register entry itself, not in the licence.
Who decides, and on what evidence?
The office that holds the register decides renewal, restoration and removal, on the evidence its own procedure requires — a formal filing within its stated window. Contract disputes go to the forum the licence names.
What we do next
We give a first reaction from a partner within minutes during business hours, and a written quote within one business day. Cost depends on how many registers and jurisdictions are involved, whether a deadline is already running, and whether an opponent has already appeared. Send the register extract and the licence; we start from there.