Invalidity and revocation: documents to prepare
Invalidity and revocation proceedings ask the office that registered a trade mark to remove it. Invalidity looks back to the moment of registration; revocation looks at what happened afterwards, most often five years of non-use. Which documents you prepare before filing decides whether the case moves on its merits or stalls on formalities.
What the procedure decides
An invalidity claim argues that the mark should never have reached the register — an earlier right conflicted with it, or it lacked distinctiveness from the start. A revocation claim argues that a validly registered mark has since lost its footing, typically through non-use or because it became a generic term in trade. Both routes end the same way: the registration falls, either in full or for the specific goods and services affected.
What changes once the case is filed
A pending claim does not suspend the registration. The mark stays on the register and remains enforceable while the case runs. That matters in practice: a mark under challenge can still be enforced against a third party, including through an injunction. Enforcement of an injunction follows its own timetable and does not pause automatically once a cancellation request lands on the same file.
Proceedings can be halted, though, if a related dispute is already before a court on the same mark. The pause is not unique to trade marks; the same procedural idea recurs across other registries. What suspension token issuance means in a file explains how the same mechanism works in a very different registry context.
Documents to prepare
| Document | Purpose | Who prepares it |
|---|---|---|
| Request form and statement of grounds | Names the ground relied on and the mark or marks it rests on | Claimant |
| Proof of standing or earlier right | Shows the claimant is entitled to bring the action | Claimant |
| Evidence of use or non-use | Supports or rebuts a claim built on the five-year non-use ground | Either side |
| Authorisation for the representative | Confirms who may act and file on the party's behalf | Claimant or holder |
| Translation of exhibits | Makes evidence admissible where the case language differs from the original document | Claimant |
| Response and counterstatement | Sets out the defence and any counter-evidence | Holder |
Who decides and how long it takes
The deciding body is the office that maintains the register, sitting through a dedicated cancellation or invalidity division. Its decision usually carries a right of appeal within the same office, before matters reach a court. A single-ground, uncontested non-use case is resolved far sooner than a multi-ground claim fought on several fronts with rounds of evidence on each side. Silence from the other side does not end the case: the office proceeds on the file as it stands.
Common branches
If the claim rests on non-use, prepare dated evidence covering the relevant five-year window before filing, not after the response deadline arrives. If the claim rests on an earlier right, gather proof of that right's own registration and standing first. If the holder does not respond within the set period, the office decides on the file submitted, without a hearing from the other side.
If the mark is licensed to a third party, a revocation filed against it can trigger obligations owed under that licence. IP indemnity negotiation determines who bears the cost of a successful challenge and who must notify whom, and it sits alongside — not instead of — the cancellation file itself.
Cost factors
What a file costs to run depends on a small number of variables rather than a headline figure: how many grounds are pleaded, how many registrations or jurisdictions are affected, whether the other side contests the claim, how much evidence needs gathering and translating, and whether an appeal follows the first decision. A single uncontested non-use claim against one registration is a different exercise from a multi-ground claim against a portfolio.
How the file is built
Each invalidity or revocation file starts from a checklist tied to the specific ground pleaded, not a generic template carried over from an unrelated matter. Evidence is mapped against that ground before submission, so gaps surface while there is still time to close them rather than after the deadline has passed.
Sources and limit
This page covers stages, documents and deadlines. It does not value a mark, assess commercial exposure in a transaction, or replace a review of a target's portfolio before it changes hands. Asset report before a portfolio is bought: the deadline that matters sets out that separate exercise and where it stops overlapping with a cancellation file.
Reviewed: 3 March 2025. This page names no statute or article number by design, since a single procedural reference would need country-by-country checking that sits outside its scope; the guidance instead reflects the procedural practice followed by the offices that run these proceedings.
Related publications
How appeal against refusal trade mark documents to prepare covers the mirror situation — preparing a file to keep a registration rather than to remove one.
FAQ
How long does invalidity and revocation take in practice?
Timing depends on the number of grounds, the volume of evidence exchanged and whether the decision is appealed. An uncontested non-use claim can close within months; a contested multi-ground claim with an appeal often runs well over a year.
Which documents are needed to start?
A statement of grounds, proof of standing or of the earlier right relied on, evidence supporting that ground, and authorisation for whoever files on the party's behalf.
What happens if the other side does not respond?
The office proceeds on the file as submitted and decides on the merits without a response from the other side. Silence does not hand the claim a win on its own, but it removes any counter-evidence from the record.