Guide
Trademark statement of use deadlines, fees and specimens
Written September 1, 2026 by Josh Pigford. Updated October 9, 2026
A statement of use is the filing that proves you're selling under your trademark. It's due six months after the issue date on your notice of allowance and costs $150 per class, with one specimen per class and a signed statement. Not selling yet? Each six-month extension costs $125 per class.
The notice of allowance is not a registration. It is a clock and a bill. If you're already selling, file now: a filing early in the period can leave you time to add one backup extension if the examiner raises a problem before the period ends. Most statements of use come in early. Knockoff's count of the USPTO's daily files for late August 2026 found that 70.6% of 2,792 statements of use arrived inside the first six months.7
The short version
- Only intent-to-use applications owe one. A use-based application sent its specimen when it was filed.
- The six months start on the issue date printed on the notice, not the day you opened it.
- Up to five extensions. The first needs no reason, and nothing goes past 36 months.
- One specimen per class, showing the mark as you really use it. Mockups are refused.
- Once filed, a statement of use can't be withdrawn, and the fee isn't refunded.
- Miss the deadline and the application is abandoned.
- Still in examination and already selling? You may not need a statement of use at all.
The deadline and the five extensions
You have six months from the issue date on the notice of allowance to file either the statement of use or a request for more time.1 A statement of use filed before the notice issues isn't reviewed, so there's nothing to gain by filing before then.
If you're not selling yet, you can buy time in six-month steps. The first extension is granted on request, with no reason needed. After that you can file up to four more, and each one needs good cause: a short statement of what you're doing to get the product to market, such as product development, manufacturing, market research, promotion, finding distributors or waiting on a government approval. Every request also repeats, under oath, that you still intend to use the mark.2
Add it up and you get the ceiling: six months, plus the first six-month extension, plus four more of six months each, is 36 months from the notice. Two details trip people up. Each period runs from the notice date, so an extension filed early doesn't cut the current period short. And if the USPTO hasn't answered your extension request before your period ends, the deadline still applies.4
| Filing | File it by | New deadline | Fee | Reason needed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Statement of use | Month 6, or the end of your extension | None, it goes to review | $150 | No |
| First extension | Month 6 | Month 12 | $125 | No |
| Second extension | Month 12 | Month 18 | $125 | Yes |
| Third extension | Month 18 | Month 24 | $125 | Yes |
| Fourth extension | Month 24 | Month 30 | $125 | Yes |
| Fifth and last extension | Month 30 | Month 36 | $125 | Yes |
Our advice is simple. If the product is on sale today, file the statement of use now. The extensions are for brands still in production. A brand that's selling but not ready to file can say so once, as the reason for one extension; the same reason won't be accepted a second time.5 For the wait after you file, see how long each stage of a trademark takes.
What it costs
Most fees at this stage are charged per class, so a second class doubles them. The current fees took effect in January 2025, and pages that still print $100 for a statement of use are out of date.3
| Filing | Fee | Charged per |
|---|---|---|
| Statement of use | $150 | Class |
| Six-month extension request | $125 | Class |
| Amendment to allege use, filed before the notice of allowance | $150 | Class |
| Request to divide the application | $100 | New application created |
| Petition to revive an abandoned application | $250 | Petition |
If you're selling, filing in the first six months costs $150 per class. Waiting one more period costs $275 per class: one $125 extension, then the $150 statement of use. A brand still in production that uses all five extensions pays $775 per class by the time it files. With two classes, those three paths cost $300, $550 and $1,550.
If you're not sure how many classes your goods fall into, the class finder sorts them, and the trademark cost calculator totals the application, the statement of use and the filings due after registration. Once you're registered, the renewal calculator turns the registration date into the next deadlines.
An example statement of use, filled in
Here is every field, with values, for an apparel brand we made up. HOLLOWAY FIELD and the dates are invented, and the serial number is a placeholder that can't belong to a real file. Use it to see what the online form will ask before you open it. It isn't legal advice.2
| Field | Sample value |
|---|---|
| Mark | HOLLOWAY FIELD |
| Owner | Dana Holloway, an individual, exactly as named on the application |
| Serial number | 00/000,000 (yours is on the notice of allowance) |
| Filing basis | Section 1(b), intent to use |
| Notice of allowance issue date | March 3, 2026 |
| Statement of use due | September 3, 2026 |
| Class | 025 |
| Goods, copied from the notice of allowance | Hooded sweatshirts; T-shirts; caps being headwear |
| Goods being deleted | None |
| Date of first use anywhere | June 12, 2026 |
| Date of first use in commerce | June 14, 2026 |
| Specimen | Screenshot of the brand's own product page for the T-shirt, showing HOLLOWAY FIELD on the neck label, the price and an Add to cart button |
| Specimen page address and date | https://hollowayfield.com/products/field-tee, captured August 28, 2026 |
| Fee paid | $150, one class |
| Statement | The applicant is using the mark in commerce on or in connection with the goods listed above |
| Signature | /Dana Holloway/, Dana Holloway, Owner, August 28, 2026 |
Four parts of the form are where filings go wrong.
The goods. Copy them from the notice of allowance word for word. Anything you leave out is treated as deleted, and it can't be added back.
The two dates. First use anywhere is the first time the mark was used on the goods at all. First use in commerce is the first time that use reached the kind of trade Congress regulates, which for an online store usually means a sale or shipment across state lines. They're often the same day. The date of first use in commerce has to fall before your deadline; if a date is wrong, you can correct it later, as long as the corrected date is still before the deadline.5
The fee, the specimen and the statement. These three are the minimum. A filing without the fee for at least one class, one specimen and the signed statement doesn't count as a statement of use. If the wrong person signs, the corrected signature has to arrive before the deadline.4
The owner. File in the exact name on the application. A statement of use filed in another name, even your own company's, isn't treated as filed by the owner, and the deadline won't wait while you fix it. If you applied as yourself and your wholly owned company does the selling, its sales count as your use. Move the mark into the company after the statement of use is filed. Before that point, the law lets you transfer ownership of an intent-to-use application only to someone taking over the running business the mark belongs to.1, 5 If your case isn't that simple, ask a trademark attorney first; here is what a trademark attorney charges for each step.
What counts as a specimen
A specimen is proof of how you really use the mark. The drawing you filed shows what the mark is; the specimen shows it at work. You need one for each class.
For goods, the mark has to appear on the product, on its packaging, on a label or tag attached to it, or on a display where the product is sold. Your product page can be that display when it passes a three-part test: it shows the goods, it shows the mark with the goods, and it lets the buyer order them.5
A web page specimen also needs its full address and the date you accessed or printed it. Pages change, and the examiner has to be able to check what was there. Without the two, the specimen is refused. There is one exception: a clear photo of the mark on the product or its packaging works as a specimen on its own, so it doesn't need them.2
A page you can't buy from is advertising, and it fails.6 A product page at a retailer that sells your goods can work instead, if it passes the same test.
Your Shopify product page, checked
Go down this list before you take the screenshot.
- The mark sits with the product. A brand name in the header is the name of the store. Show the mark where the buyer sees it on the goods: the neck label, the hang tag, the box or the product title.
- The product is on the page. A photo or a description of the actual goods, not a brand story.
- A price and an Add to cart or Buy it now button are in the same capture. "Contact us" and "Find a stockist" don't count.
- The address bar and the date are in the capture. Type the address and the date into the specimen description as well.
- The store is open. A store behind its password page shows a product nobody can buy.
- Nothing is pasted together. If the price, the button and the mark only appear together because you combined two screenshots, that's a mockup. Scroll until they share one screen, or change the page.
- The goods have really sold or shipped. A pre-order page for goods that don't exist yet doesn't show use.
- One specimen per class. Hoodies in class 25 and candles in class 4 need one each.
Apparel has one more trap. Examiners look at the size and place of a mark on clothing. A small, neat logo on the chest is likely to read as a brand. The same logo printed large across the front may be refused as decoration. If your logo is the print, photograph the neck label, the hang tag or the sewn-in tag instead.5
Why mockups get refused
Many Shopify brands sell from renders: a print-on-demand hoodie, a template mug, a logo laid onto a blank tee. Those images run your store, and the USPTO refuses them as specimens. A rendering, a printer's proof or an image made or edited to show how the mark would look is not proof that it's in use.5
Examiners are told what to look for: a mark that seems to float over the product, details of the item that vanish around the mark, pixels at its edges, and a mark that doesn't follow the material it's printed on. A flat logo that ignores the folds of a hoodie gives itself away. Photograph the real product under real light.
A suspected mockup costs more than one refusal. The examiner can ask for proof of sales and the dollar amounts, and your other specimens come under the same doubt.5
When only some of your goods are selling
This is the usual case. The notice covers hoodies, T-shirts and caps. The hoodies and T-shirts are selling and the caps are still at the factory. A statement of use can only cover goods already in use, so you have three ways to go:
- Wait with one extension. A $125-per-class extension that covers every item buys six months for the caps to ship. You keep everything.
- Divide. File the statement of use for the hoodies and T-shirts, and move the caps into a new application for $100. You keep everything, but the new application owes its own statement of use or extension, with its own fees, on the same deadline.
- Delete. Leave the caps out of the statement of use. It's free, and the caps are gone from this application for good.
If you plan to divide and also need more time, file an extension covering all the goods at the same time as the request to divide, or before it. It's processed first, so you pay for one extension instead of one in each application.5
When something goes wrong
Your specimen is refused. That isn't the end. You can send a replacement specimen after the deadline, as long as it was in use before the deadline passed. A page you build after the deadline can't fix it.5
You want insurance. When you file the statement of use in any period except the last, you can file one more extension request with it, or later in the same period, as long as the new period ends by month 36. It gives you time to fix problems the examiner raises, and the reason you give can simply be that the statement of use might be refused. It's your last extension, and its fee isn't refunded even if you never need it.2
You filed something defective. You can't withdraw a statement of use to start over, and the fee isn't refunded. You have to fix it in place.4
You missed the deadline. The application is abandoned. If the delay was unintentional, a $250 petition to revive can bring it back, filed within two months of the notice of abandonment. Nothing can be revived past 36 months from the notice of allowance. After that, you file a new application, pay again, and lose the filing date you were holding.2
The seven August daily files alone recorded 3,630 applications abandoned because no statement of use came in.7
Selling before the notice of allowance
If your application is still in examination and you've started selling, you can skip most of this page. An amendment to allege use, filed and accepted before the examiner approves the mark for publication, means no notice of allowance, no statement of use and no six-month clock. It needs the same three things and the same $150 per class, and you can withdraw it before approval if you change your mind.5
Watch for the gap. Once the status reads "Approved for Publication", you can't file either form until the notice of allowance issues. The USPTO calls this the blackout period. An amendment to allege use also doesn't answer an open office action, the examiner's letter asking for changes; that still needs its own reply.4
Where Knockoff fits
Your registration is still months away. Your product photos don't have to wait for it. Copyright protects photos you took or own from the moment they exist, with no filing, and a copy of your photo on someone else's listing can be reported on that alone.6 For the difference between the two, see which right covers a stolen photo and which covers a copied name.
Knockoff searches the open web for your product photos and acts where a copy turns up on a Shopify store, eBay, Walmart or Temu. Each confirmed match comes with the archived page, a timestamped screenshot and your original beside the copy, and a person here files the takedown as your authorized agent. See what happens after a match is found. Knockoff also watches new US trademark applications for names close to yours. We're not a law firm and we don't file trademark applications. The plan is $799 a month, with no contract.
Questions
What is a statement of use for a trademark?
+
It's the filing that proves you're selling under your mark. Only intent-to-use applications owe one, and it's due six months after the issue date on the notice of allowance, or inside an extension you were granted.
How much is a trademark statement of use?
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$150 per class, filed online. Each six-month extension request is $125 per class. Pages that print $100 are quoting the fee schedule that ended in January 2025.
Can you provide an example of a statement of use for a trademark?
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Yes. For an invented apparel brand: the mark, the owner, the serial number, the goods copied word for word from the notice of allowance, the date of first use anywhere and in commerce, one specimen with its page address and capture date, the $150 fee, the signed statement and the signature. The full table is on this page.
What is an example of a trademark specimen?
+
For goods, a photo of the mark on a hang tag, a neck label or the packaging, or a capture of your own product page that shows the goods, the mark and an Add to cart button, with the page address and the date you captured it.
Can I get more time to file a statement of use?
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Yes. The first six-month extension needs no reason. You can file four more, each with a short statement of what you're doing to reach the market, and nothing goes past 36 months from the notice of allowance.
What happens if I miss the statement of use deadline?
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The application is abandoned. If the delay was unintentional, a $250 petition to revive filed within two months of the notice of abandonment can bring it back, but never past 36 months. After that, you start again with a new application.
Sources and dates
- 1. Statute. 15 U.S.C. 1051, read September 1, 2026: intent to use at (b), the amendment to allege use at (c), the six-month deadline at (d)(1), the extensions and the 24-month limit on those after the first at (d)(2), abandonment at (d)(4). 15 U.S.C. 1060(a)(1), read October 9, 2026: an intent-to-use application can't be assigned before the statement of use is filed "except to a successor to the business of the applicant, or portion thereof, to which the mark pertains, if that business is ongoing and existing." 15 U.S.C. 1127 for use in commerce. ↩
- 2. Regulations. 37 CFR 2.88 for the filing window, the fields, the deletion rule, the three minimum requirements at (c), no withdrawal at (f) and abandonment at (k). 37 CFR 2.89 for the first extension, good cause at (d), the four later requests, and the extension filed with a statement of use at (e)(1) and (e)(2). 37 CFR 2.56 for one specimen per class, where the mark appears on goods, and at (c) the web address, the date and the mockup rule. 37 CFR 2.76 for the amendment to allege use. 37 CFR 2.66 for the two-month limit on a petition to revive. 2.88 and 2.56 read September 1, 2026; 2.89, 2.76 and 2.66 read October 9, 2026. ↩
- 3. Fees. The USPTO fee schedule, effective January 19, 2025, last revised August 14, 2026, read October 9, 2026, and 37 CFR 2.6. The $275, $775, $300, $550 and $1,550 totals are our arithmetic on those fees. ↩
- 4. USPTO guidance. The intent-to-use forms page, read October 9, 2026, for periods counted only from the notice date, the five extensions and the blackout period. The intent-to-use applications page for no withdrawal and no refund. The statement of use minimum requirements page for the corrected signature. Both read September 1, 2026. ↩
- 5. Examining manual. The Trademark Manual of Examining Procedure, May 2026 edition: 904.03(i) for the web page test, the web address and date, the photo exception and stockist pages; 904.04(a) for mockups and the signs examiners look for; 1103 for an accepted amendment to allege use; 1108.01 and 1108.03 for the extension periods and the extension filed with a statement of use; 1108.02(f) for the selling-but-not-ready reason being accepted only once; 1109.09(a) for correcting dates of use; 1109.16(a) for a replacement specimen used before the deadline; 1110.07 for dividing; 1201.03(b) for a mark owned by an individual and used by a wholly owned company, and for filings made in the other party's name; 1202.03(a) for the size and place of a mark on clothing. Sections 1103, 1108.02(f), 1109.09(a), 1109.16(a), 1201.03(b) and 1202.03(a) read October 9, 2026, the rest September 1, 2026. Also Examination Guide 3-19, July 2019, for the request for proof of sales and the doubt cast on the other specimens. ↩
- 6. Case law and copyright. In re Siny Corp., 920 F.3d 1331 (Fed. Cir. 2019): "Mere advertising is not enough to qualify as such a display." The court affirmed the Board's finding that an invitation to call for information or quotes is not a way to order. 17 U.S.C. 408(a), read October 9, 2026: "registration is not a condition of copyright protection." ↩
- 7. Our own figures. From the USPTO Trademark Daily XML application files (product TRTDXFAP) for the seven business days August 21, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28 and 31, 2026. We counted each statement of use that appeared in those files and placed it in a six-month period measured from its own notice of allowance date. 70.6% of the 2,792 arrived in the first period. The 3,630 is the count of applications abandoned for no statement of use in the same files; it isn't a rate, because those applications got their notices up to three years earlier. Weekend filings don't appear in the files, and one week of August isn't a seasonal measure. ↩
Knockoff sells brand protection software and is not a neutral party. Knockoff is not a law firm and this page is general information, not legal advice. Fees and rules change, so read the source before you rely on a figure here.
Cite this page
Pigford, Josh. "Trademark statement of use deadlines, fees and specimens." Knockoff, published September 1, 2026. https://knockoff.co/guides/trademark-statement-of-use
