Answer
What is a Statement of Use, and when is it due?
Lawyers call this: Statement of Use · allegation of use · 15 U.S.C. § 1051(d)
Short answer
A Statement of Use is the filing that proves you have started using a mark you applied for before launch. It is due six months after the USPTO issues your Notice of Allowance. If you are not using the mark yet, you can buy up to five six-month extensions, for a total of three years. The current fee is $150 per class for the Statement of Use and $125 per class for each extension.
What changes the answer
- Whether you filed on an intent-to-use basis
- Only an application filed under Section 1(b), before use began, needs a Statement of Use. If you were already using the mark when you filed, you proved use in the application.
- Where the application is in the process
- Before the examining attorney approves the mark for publication, you can prove use with an Amendment to Allege Use instead. Between approval and the Notice of Allowance, you cannot file either one. After the Notice of Allowance, the Statement of Use is the only way. Lawyers call both filings an allegation of use.
- Whether you use the mark on everything you listed
- You must be using the mark on all the goods or services you keep in the application. You can delete the ones not yet in use, or divide them into a separate application that keeps waiting.
- Whether this is your first extension
- The first extension needs only a request, the fee, and a sworn statement that you still intend to use the mark. Each later extension also needs a short showing of good cause: what you are doing to bring the mark to market.
The rule
An intent-to-use application registers only after the applicant files a verified statement that the mark is in use in commerce. 15 U.S.C. § 1051(d). The Statement of Use is due within six months after the Notice of Allowance, or within an extension already granted. 37 C.F.R. § 2.88(a)(1) (2026).
A complete Statement of Use includes a verified statement that the mark is in use, the dates of first use, the goods or services, one specimen per class showing the mark in use, and the fee. 37 C.F.R. § 2.88(b) (2026). Goods or services you leave out are treated as deleted and cannot be added back. 37 C.F.R. § 2.88(b)(1)(iv) (2026). Once filed, a Statement of Use cannot be withdrawn. 37 C.F.R. § 2.88(f) (2026).
The first extension request must be filed within six months of the Notice of Allowance. Four more may follow, each filed before the previous extension runs out and each showing good cause. The extra requests may not total more than 24 months. 37 C.F.R. § 2.89(a)–(d) (2026). With the first six months and the first extension, the whole period cannot run past 36 months from the Notice of Allowance. 15 U.S.C. § 1051(d)(2).
Current fees for electronic filing are $150 per class for a Statement of Use or Amendment to Allege Use, and $125 per class for each extension request. 37 C.F.R. § 2.6(a)(2)–(4) (2026). Both forms are available through TEAS and Trademark Center.
If you miss the deadline, the application is abandoned. 37 C.F.R. § 2.65(c) (2026). A petition to revive is available if the delay was unintentional. You pay the $250 petition fee plus the fees for every extension you should have filed. 37 C.F.R. § 2.66(c) (2026).
What to do next
Calendar the Notice of Allowance date plus six months, and each six months after that. The deadline runs even if the USPTO has not yet ruled on your last extension request. 37 C.F.R. § 2.89(g) (2026).
If you are using the mark, file the Statement of Use with a specimen that shows real use. See What counts as an acceptable specimen? If you have filed the Statement of Use and time remains in the current six-month period, you may also file one extension request as a backup in case the specimen is rejected. 37 C.F.R. § 2.89(e) (2026).
This is a filing most owners can make themselves. The form is short, and the hard part is a specimen of real use, which only you can supply. If the examining attorney later refuses the specimen, see How do I respond to an Office Action?
Attorney review is provided by Valet Law, PLLC, a law firm separate from Trademark Valet, LLC. Keep confidential facts out of public tools. Your first message to Valet Law should identify the parties and the general issue only. Wait until Valet Law confirms it can discuss the matter before sending confidential details.
Who checked this
Reviewed and approved by Brandon Leavitt on 2026-10-02.
General information about how trademark law works. It is not legal advice about your situation, and reading it does not make anyone your lawyer.