US Statement of Use: Deadlines, Proof That Passes and What Gets Refused

You launched. Now the USPTO wants to see it.

Many business owners file their United States trademark before they start selling. The USPTO then waits for proof of use. That proof is the Statement of Use. It turns an approved application into a registered trademark.

The clock starts with the Notice of Allowance. That is the USPTO letter saying your trademark is approved and waiting for your proof of use. We call it the allowance letter from here on. You have six months from its date to file. If you are not ready, you can ask for six more months, up to five times. The last possible date is 36 months after the allowance letter. The USPTO fee is $150 for each class, meaning each group of goods or services in your application.

Three things decide whether it goes through. Everything you keep on your list must be in use. Your proof must show that use on its face. And you must file on time.

Information current as of 27 September 2026. Country covered: United States (USPTO). We checked every rule on 27 September 2026 against the USPTO's own rules and its examination manual. They are listed under Sources at the end.

Updated 27 September 2026: we corrected our advice on classes not yet in use and on proof for services. We also added worked examples and the way back after a missed deadline.

Which filings need a Statement of Use?

Only one kind: an application filed on intent to use. That means you filed before the trademark was in use, based on a real plan to use it. The other ways to file either prove use at the start or register without proof of use in the United States.

Owners who filed on a home registration or through WIPO's Madrid System still prove use later. They do it in the Section 8 or Section 71 declaration. That is a signed statement due between the fifth and sixth year after registration. Our guide to filing a United States trademark from abroad compares the ways to file. If you have not filed yet, our United States trademark service covers the application from the first search.

When is the Statement of Use due?

It is due six months from the date on the allowance letter. If you are not ready by then, ask for an extension before that date. Each extension adds six months. You can ask up to five times. So the final limit is 36 months from the allowance letter.

What protects you is a request filed on time, not one already granted. The first extension needs no reason. For the second to the fifth, add a short note. Say what you are still doing to put the trademark into use. The USPTO calls this good cause. Our guide to Statement of Use extensions shows how to word it.

Two more timing rules help:

• The early route. Use may start while the USPTO lawyer on your file, the examining attorney, is still reviewing it. Then you can file the same kind of proof early. This is called an Amendment to Allege Use. You can file it until the examining attorney approves your trademark to be published, so others can object. From then until the allowance letter arrives, you cannot file either one. The USPTO calls this the blackout period.
• One spare extension. You can file one extension together with the Statement of Use. Or file it later, within the same six-month window. It keeps time in hand if the examining attorney questions your proof.

Once filed, a Statement of Use cannot be withdrawn to go back to waiting. So file when your proof is ready, not just to beat the calendar.

What must the Statement of Use include?

A complete filing has five parts:

• A signed statement that the trademark is in use in commerce on every item you keep.
• For each class, the date you first used the trademark anywhere and the date you first used it in commerce in the United States.
• The goods and services from the allowance letter. You can delete items. You cannot add new ones or make them broader.
• One specimen for each class. A specimen is your proof of use: a real example of the trademark in use. We call it your proof from here on.
• The USPTO fee of $150 per class.

Three of these must reach the USPTO before the deadline. They are the fee for at least one class, one piece of proof, and the signed statement. Without all three, the USPTO does not examine the filing. Once the deadline passes, the application is abandoned, which means the USPTO closes it. Proof and fees for other classes can follow later. But the use they show must have begun before the deadline.

Dates of use. Your first use in commerce in the United States cannot come before your first use anywhere. Neither date can be later than the day you sign. If a class lists several items, dates for one item are enough.

Your signature matters. You sign under a warning that a deliberately false statement can be punished by a fine or prison. So claim only what is in use today.

Owners based outside the United States. An attorney licensed in the United States must file the Statement of Use and any extension. Our experienced attorney files with the USPTO and stays on your record.

What proof passes for goods?

For goods, the trademark must appear on the product itself. It can also be on the packaging, a label or tag, or a display where the product is sold. A web page counts as that display only if it shows three things. You need the product, the trademark next to it, and a way to order. Ads usually do not count for goods. That includes social media posts and online banners.

A 3D render of your jar may look better than the real one. The USPTO still wants the real one.

Illustration, not a client matter: a skin cream in Class 3.

• Passes: a photo of the actual jar with the trademark on the label.
• Passes: the product page with the trademark beside the cream, its price, and an Add to Cart button. Capture it with the web address (URL) and the date showing.
• Fails: the Instagram launch post. It advertises the cream. It does not show the trademark on it.
• Fails: a 3D render of the jar. A mockup is not proof of use.
• Fails: a homepage with the logo and no way to buy.

What proof passes for services?

For services, the trademark must be used when you sell or advertise them, or while you provide them. The proof must link the trademark directly to the services. Unlike goods, a services page needs no buy button. But the services must be available now. Announcing a future service is not use. Neither is taking advance bookings.

So ask yourself one thing: could a client hire you for this today?

Illustration, not a client matter: a marketing consultancy in Class 35.

• Passes: your services page showing the trademark and describing the consulting you offer today. Capture it with the URL and the date showing.
• Passes: a proposal or client presentation that shows the trademark and names the service.
• Fails: a business card with the logo and nothing about the service.
• Fails: a "launching soon, join the waitlist" page.

For goods and services alike, the proof must show use that existed before your deadline. A photo taken later, of something that only began after the deadline, will not save the application.

Why does proof of use get refused?

Three problems are common at this stage. Each one is avoidable:

• A mockup or edited image. Drawings, 3D renders, and images made or changed on a computer are not proof of use.
• An ad filed for goods. A social post or banner promotes the product. It does not show the trademark on it.
• An incomplete web capture. A web page must show the URL and the date you viewed or printed it. For goods, it must also show a way to buy.

If the examining attorney refuses your proof, you can send a replacement. But you must confirm it was in use before you filed the Statement of Use, or before the deadline ran out. If no such proof exists, registration is refused. Specimen Refused? How to Fix It walks through the responses. Our Specimen Guide shows formats that pass and fail.

What if only some goods or classes are in use?

You can file a Statement of Use only when every item you keep from the allowance letter is in use. The one exception: you also file a request to divide. That request splits the items not yet in use into a separate application. Anything you leave out of the Statement of Use is treated as deleted. It cannot be put back.

When part of your list is not ready, you have two clean options:

• Delete the items not in use. Then file the Statement of Use for the rest.
• File the Statement of Use for what is in use. Add a request to divide out the rest (USPTO fee $100 per new application). Add an extension for the part you split off.

Say you sell clothing in Class 25. You also plan a styling service in Class 35 that has not launched. File the Statement of Use for Class 25. Add a request to divide out Class 35, plus an extension for Class 35. Suppose you file the Statement of Use and the extension, but no request to divide. The USPTO then gives you time to divide or delete. If you do neither, Class 35 is deleted.

Dividing does not move the deadline. The new Class 35 application still needs its own Statement of Use or extension, on the same schedule.

What happens if you miss the deadline?

The application is abandoned. If the miss was unintentional, you can ask the USPTO to bring it back. This is called a petition to revive. You must file it within two months of the notice of abandonment, the USPTO letter saying your application is closed. The USPTO fee is $250. The petition must include the Statement of Use or extension you missed. It must also include the fees for any extensions you should have filed in the meantime. Revival cannot carry the Statement of Use past 36 months from the allowance letter.

Some applications are mixed: some items were in use or registered in your home country, and some were planned. There, a missed deadline abandons the whole application. That includes the items already in use or registered abroad.

Can claiming too much hurt you after registration?

Yes, in two ways.

First, anyone can ask the USPTO to take a second look within five years of registration. This is called a petition for reexamination. It applies to registrations that began as intent-to-use applications. The USPTO checks whether the trademark was in use on the listed goods by one date. That date is the later of two: your Statement of Use deadline, with extensions, or the date of any Amendment to Allege Use. The petition carries a USPTO fee of $400 per class.

Second, the Section 8 declaration due between the fifth and sixth year can be picked for an audit. The USPTO then asks for proof on more items. Deleting the items you cannot support costs a fee per class.

Our guide to Section 8 and Section 15 declarations covers that later stage.

What does a Statement of Use cost with GTC?

Our prices, checked against our live catalog on 27 September 2026. The Government Fees are the USPTO's fees, passed on at cost.

Each extra class adds $50 to Professional Fees. It also adds the USPTO fee for that class: $150 for the Statement of Use, or $125 for each extension. The Bank Fee adds 5% of that USPTO fee. A two-class Statement of Use comes to $515.00. If you compare quotes, ask for the same three lines.

What to Do This Week

• Find the date of your allowance letter in TSDR, the USPTO's online status system. Put the six-month deadline in your calendar, with a reminder 30 days before it.
• For each class, collect one piece of proof. Test it against the examples above. Use the real product or a live page, with the URL and the date showing.
• List any goods or services not yet in use. Decide whether to delete them, or divide and extend.

Our Statement of Use service gives you a second pair of eyes. An experienced attorney checks your proof and dates of use before we file. Our attorney stays on your record.