Renewal and restoration: documents to prepare

Renewal keeps a registered mark alive past its ten-year term. Restoration reopens a right after non-payment let it lapse. Both stages ask for the same core file: proof of ownership, the current class list, and payment evidence. The difference is timing and tone. Restoration also requires a justification for the delay, submitted inside a strict window, and the decision maker reviews that justification rather than rubber-stamping it.

What changes once the deadline passes

Once the renewal period lapses, most registers open a grace window with a surcharge attached. Missing that window turns a routine renewal into a restoration request. A restoration request has to show two things: that the failure was unintentional, and that the applicant acted without delay once the obstacle was removed. The office applies this test strictly. A missed reminder from a representative rarely counts as an acceptable reason on its own.

The practical consequence is sequencing. Renewal is a filing exercise. Restoration is closer to a short adversarial review, even though there is usually no opposing party in the room.

Documents to prepare

The file for ordinary renewal is short. The file for restoration is longer, because it has to explain the gap as well as confirm the right.

Keep the ownership chain consistent across every filing. If the mark changed hands and the register was never updated, resolve that first. A mismatch between the applicant and the registered owner is the single most common reason a renewal or restoration request stalls.

Steps to take

1. Confirm the expiry date against the register entry itself, not against an internal spreadsheet or a reminder email.
2. Gather the certificate, the current class list, and proof of any ownership change since the last filing.
3. Where the portfolio spans several offices, decide who prepares the file. An in-house team, or a subcontracting arrangement with an external provider (Subcontracting technology contract explained), can shift the work but not the responsibility for the deadline.
4. For restoration, draft the statement of grounds before gathering supporting evidence, so the evidence answers the question the office actually asks.
5. File through the correct channel for the office in question and keep the payment receipt as part of the file, not as a separate record.
6. Calendar the outcome date. A refusal of restoration is usually final within that same procedure.

Fees at this stage are set by each office in its own schedule and scale with the number of classes and jurisdictions covered. Where a later dispute adds procedural costs on top, the underlying logic resembles other proceedings, described here: Costs and security for costs. In both settings, the decision maker looks at what was reasonable to spend, not simply at what was spent.

Who decides and how long it takes

The national or regional trade mark office handles both renewal and restoration. There is no separate tribunal for the ordinary case. A renewal filed on time is typically processed administratively, without a substantive review of the mark itself. A restoration request receives an actual assessment: an examiner checks the grounds and can ask for further evidence before deciding.

Timing varies by office. As a working range, ordinary renewal clears within weeks. Restoration, because it carries a substantive check, commonly takes one to three months from filing to decision.

Common forks

If the mark is jointly owned, every co-owner named on the register should be reflected in the renewal request. An omission here is a frequent source of later disputes over the right itself.

If the class list has grown obsolete because the business no longer trades in some original categories, renewal is the moment to narrow it. A lapsed class cannot be added back through restoration later.

If the brand has moved into a new commercial context, for example marketing through a digital asset or token programme where separate marketing rules apply (What changed in marketing rules token issuance), renewing the underlying mark does not itself clear that separate compliance question. The two files should stay apart.

What this page does not cover

This page does not cover the substantive grounds for refusing a mark. It also does not cover the separate procedure that applies once someone else contests an application, which runs to a different timetable and a different document list.

Related publications

For a contested filing rather than a lapsed one, the relevant file is described here: Opposition settlement: documents to prepare.

Sources and limits

This page does not cover what a business can lawfully register or hold once a portfolio is confirmed. That question sits in a different layer of this site, illustrated for one jurisdiction here: Asset in Czechia explained.

Checked: the stages, document categories and timing ranges above reflect current administrative practice at trade mark offices operating within the EU as of this review. Office-specific forms, fee schedules and exact windows should be confirmed against the relevant office's own published guidance before any filing is made.

FAQ

How long does renewal and restoration take in practice?
Ordinary renewal usually clears within weeks once the file is complete. Restoration takes longer, commonly one to three months, because the office reviews the grounds rather than processing a routine filing.

Which documents are needed to start?
Renewal needs the registration number, current owner details and a confirmed class list. Restoration adds a statement of grounds and evidence of the obstacle, on top of the same renewal documents.

What happens if the other side does not respond?
In a joint filing, if a co-owner or a licensor whose consent is needed stays silent, the office will not proceed on that item until the consent question is resolved. The safer route is to confirm every required signatory before filing, not after a query comes back.

— Ruta Kavaliauskaite, AURELIS