Renewal and restoration: stages and deadlines
A trade mark or design does not renew itself. The holder files a renewal request before the term ends, or later, within a grace window, against a surcharge. Once that window closes, the right lapses. After that point, only a formal restoration request, filed quickly and backed by evidence, can bring the right back onto the register.
What actually changes once a deadline passes
Missing the renewal date does not end the matter straight away. A grace period follows, and the office still accepts a late renewal against an extra fee during that period. Once the grace period lapses, the register marks the right as expired, and third parties may start treating the mark or design as free to use or to file.
Restoration is then the only route back. Offices apply it narrowly: the holder must show that the failure was unintentional, or that the expected level of care was in fact taken. The request must go in within a short period once the obstacle to renewing is removed.
The gap between lapse and restoration is where real damage happens. A competitor watching the register can file an identical or similar sign the moment a right shows as expired, and that new filing then sits ahead of any restoration in time. A restored right does not automatically erase a filing made during the gap.
A change inside the holder's own organisation often sits behind a missed date. Where the register still shows an old name or an old representative, a reminder can be sent to the wrong address, or simply not reach the person watching the deadline. The same problem appears outside trade marks: Novation on a corporate change sets out how a decision maker should be identified before any clock runs, and the same discipline applies here.
Stages, in order
| Stage | What happens | Who acts |
|---|---|---|
| Renewal window | The holder files ahead of expiry; some offices send a courtesy reminder, none is bound to do so | Holder or representative |
| Grace period | A late renewal is still accepted, against a surcharge set by the office's own fee schedule | Holder |
| Lapse | The register marks the right as expired once the grace period runs out | Office, automatically |
| Restoration request | The holder sets out the cause of the delay and files supporting evidence | Holder, decision taken by the office |
| Third-party window | Where the applicable regime allows it, a third party may contest the restoration | Third parties |
What determines how long each stage takes
No fixed period fits every file, and this page will not invent one. A few factors do most of the work. The number of classes or design registrations under one right adds review time if any of them raise a separate query. A right that spans several jurisdictions moves at the pace of the slowest office, not the fastest. Where an examiner asks a follow-up question, the clock effectively pauses until the holder answers it in full. A restoration request supported by a complete, dated account of the cause of delay tends to move faster than one filed with a promise to supply evidence later.
What to do
- Instruct the team holding the docket to diary the expiry date the moment the right is registered, not the year it falls due.
- Confirm current ownership and the registered representative before filing; a change that never reached the register is a common cause of a missed date.
- File the renewal through the office's own channel, listing every class or design registration the request is meant to cover.
- If the deadline has already passed, gather evidence of the cause of the delay immediately; a restoration request stands or falls on that evidence.
- Send the restoration request within the short period the office allows once the obstacle is removed, with the evidence attached.
- Watch the register entry until it shows the right as renewed or restored, not merely as pending.
Who decides
The office that holds the register decides both the renewal and the restoration. For a right covering the whole European Union, that office is EUIPO; for a national mark or design, it is the relevant national office. Neither step goes before a court at first instance.
A refusal of restoration can usually be challenged inside the office's own appeal procedure. Only after that stage, and only if the outcome still matters commercially, does the question move before a court.
If you are in one of these situations
If the right is jointly held, a missed renewal rarely has a single owner to blame. The position resembles disputes seen elsewhere in a portfolio: A joint development partner files alone patent when the other co-owner assumed someone else was watching the date.
If the portfolio sits alongside tokenised assets, the communication chain matters as much as the deadline itself. The same standard of record-keeping that applies in How holder communication procedure token issuance documents to prepare applies equally to a renewal reminder that a holder claims never arrived.
If the delay came from a representative who changed firm or retired without formally handing over the file, treat that as the cause of delay in its own right, and document exactly when the holder found out about the lapse.
What this page does not cover
This page does not set a fee, does not calculate a deadline for a specific right, and does not replace a check of the actual register entry. It does not cover an opposition against a pending application, which is a different stage with its own timing and its own forum. It also does not cover the substantive question of whether a mark or design was ever validly registered in the first place.
Verified
This overview was checked against current office practice for trade marks and designs; it carries no case-specific fee or deadline, because none is confirmed for a specific register in the material available. Where a portfolio needs a single, consolidated view of status across several registers before any deadline is acted on, the Asset report before a licence is signed in detail sets out how that report is built.
Related reading
A related procedure covers the opposite stage of the register: Opposition settlement: stages and deadlines deals with a challenge to a pending application, not a lapsed registration.
FAQ
How long does renewal and restoration take in practice? A renewal filed on time is usually a formality that the office confirms without further contact. A restoration takes longer, because the office reviews the evidence of cause before deciding, and may raise a follow-up question before it closes the file.
Which documents are needed to start? A renewal needs proof of the current holder and a list of the classes or design registrations covered. A restoration additionally needs a dated account of what caused the delay and, where available, correspondence showing exactly when the holder learned of the lapse.
What happens if the other side does not respond? If a third party has raised a challenge to a restoration and then stays silent, the office generally proceeds to decide on the record before it, rather than waiting indefinitely for a reply that may never come.
Next step
If a competitor has proposed sharing a mark instead of fighting a separate restoration, start with When a coexistence agreement is proposed explained.