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What each USPTO trademark status means
USPTO records use a vocabulary of their own. This guide translates it, status by status, and explains what each one means for a name you want to use.
Written by Trademarky. Last checked September 4, 2026. 7 min read.
Live or dead: the first split
Every trademark record at the USPTO carries one of two top-level labels. A live mark is an application that is still being examined or a registration that is still in force. A dead mark is an application that was abandoned or a registration that was cancelled or expired. Search results show the label beside every record, and it is the first thing to read: an examining attorney cites only live marks against a new application.
Each record also has a serial number, assigned on the day of filing, and a registration number, assigned only if and when the mark registers. The serial number follows the application through its whole life and is the fastest way to find a record again.
Beneath live and dead sits a longer status line, with a date, that says what happened most recently. Those lines are what the rest of this guide translates.
How to check a status
The USPTO's Trademark Status and Document Retrieval system, called TSDR, is free and shows the full record for any serial or registration number. The USPTO explains how to use it on its page for checking status and viewing documents. To read a record:
- Find the serial number or registration number, from the search system, a filing receipt or the certificate, and open the record.
- Read the status line and the status date at the top. The date tells you how current the line is.
- Open the prosecution history. It lists every event in order, from filing through office actions, responses, publication and registration, and it is where you see whether a response was filed or a deadline is running.
- Open the documents tab to read the office actions and responses themselves. Every filing in the record is public.
The pending statuses
A pending application is live but not yet registered. The status line moves through roughly this sequence, with detours for office actions:
| Status | What it means |
|---|---|
| New application, not yet assigned | Filed and in the queue. Nothing happens until an examining attorney picks it up, which has often taken several months |
| Non-final action mailed | An office action has issued and the three-month response clock is running |
| Final action mailed | The refusal has been maintained; the options are reconsideration, appeal or both |
| Suspended | Examination is paused, most often because an earlier-filed application might conflict with yours, until that application registers or dies |
| Approved for publication | The examining attorney has cleared the mark and it is waiting for its turn in the Official Gazette |
| Published for opposition | The 30-day window in which anyone who believes the registration would harm them can oppose it or ask for more time |
| Opposition pending | Someone has filed an opposition and the case is before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board |
| Notice of allowance issued | For intent-to-use applications only: publication passed without opposition, and the six-month clock for a Statement of Use has started |
| Statement of use filed | You have shown use and the examining attorney is reviewing the specimen |
The 30-day opposition window can stretch. A potential opposer can request extensions, first without giving a reason and then for good cause, up to a total of 180 days from publication. Most published marks draw no opposition at all and move on to registration or a notice of allowance. How long a trademark takes puts these stages on a calendar.
The registered statuses
Once the certificate issues, the status line reads Registered, and the record's later events are about keeping it alive. "Registered, Section 8 and 15 accepted" means the owner filed the declaration of continued use between years five and six and, usually at the same time, the declaration that makes the registration incontestable. "Registered and renewed" means a Section 9 renewal was filed at the ten-year mark. A registration that shows none of these after its sixth anniversary is on its way to cancellation.
Two other lines appear on registrations. "Cancellation pending" means someone has petitioned the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board to cancel the registration, and the mark remains live until the case ends. A post-registration audit note means the USPTO has asked the owner to prove use on more of the listed goods. Trademark maintenance and renewal covers the filings and the deadlines.
The dead statuses
Dead has three flavors, and they mean different things about the business behind the mark:
- Abandoned. An application that ended without registering. The status line usually says why: failure to respond to an office action, no Statement of Use filed after a notice of allowance, or an express abandonment filed by the applicant. An application abandoned for failure to respond can be revived by petition within two months of the notice of abandonment if the failure was unintentional, so a very recent abandonment is not necessarily final.
- Cancelled. A registration that was cut short. Most cancellations happen automatically when no Section 8 declaration is filed by the end of the grace period, which strongly suggests the owner stopped using the mark or stopped caring. A smaller number come from Trademark Trial and Appeal Board proceedings or from the owner surrendering the registration.
- Expired. A registration that reached its ten-year renewal date and was not renewed. Like a cancelled registration, it cannot be brought back; the owner's only route is a new application.
Registrations cancelled or expired for a missed deadline stay dead; the USPTO can restore one only where its own error caused the problem. That finality is what makes dead marks informative: a Section 8 cancellation is a strong signal about use, while an abandoned application from last month is not.
What a dead mark means for your name
The examining attorney will not cite a dead mark against your application. That is the good news, and it is where too many people stop reading. A dead record tells you about the register; it does not tell you about the marketplace, and rights in the United States come from use.
Before treating a dead mark as clear, read its record and look outside it:
- How long has it been dead, and why? An application abandoned within the last two months may be revived. A registration cancelled under Section 8 six years ago is a much colder trail.
- Is the business still trading? Search the owner's name and the mark on the web and in marketplaces. A company that let its registration lapse but still sells under the name has common-law rights where it operates, can oppose your application when it is published, and can petition to cancel your registration afterwards.
- Has the owner refiled? Search the owner's name in the USPTO's records for a newer application. Companies that miss a maintenance deadline often file again.
The free check tells you which of the close marks it finds are live and which are dead, and the comprehensive search your attorney reviews before filing looks behind the dead ones. If you have a serial number and a status you cannot read, bring it to the free call.
See which marks near yours are live, which are dead, and how close each one is. Check my trademark for free
Questions about this topic
Does a dead trademark mean I can use the name?
Not automatically. A dead record means the application or registration is no longer in force, so the USPTO will not cite it against you. It says nothing about whether the business is still using the name. If it is, it has common-law rights where it operates and can oppose or challenge your registration. Read the record and look for the business before relying on a dead mark.
How often should I check the status of my trademark application?
At least every six months while the application is pending, and after every deadline you expect the USPTO to act on. The USPTO does not send reminders to check status and treats it as the applicant's responsibility; a petition to fix a missed deadline can fail if you did not check.
What is the difference between a serial number and a registration number?
The serial number is assigned on the day an application is filed and identifies it for life, through examination and beyond. The registration number is assigned only when the mark registers, and it is the number you cite as proof of registration on licenses, marketplace brand registries and customs recordations. A dead application has a serial number but never receives a registration number.
Related guides
- How long does a trademark take?: A realistic U.S. trademark timeline: the wait for the first USPTO review, the 30-day publication, when the certificate arrives, and what slows it down.
- Trademark maintenance and renewal: keeping your registration alive: The Section 8, 9 and 15 filings that keep a U.S. trademark registration alive: when they are due, what the USPTO charges, grace periods and audits.
- How to search for a trademark, and what a search misses: How to search USPTO trademark records yourself, how the USPTO compares marks, what a records search misses, and when to get an attorney's read.
This guide is general information to help you understand the process. It is not legal advice and does not create an attorney-client relationship. For advice on your own mark, talk to an attorney on a free call.
Contact
Trademarky, LLC, 78 SW 7th St, 5th FL, Miami, FL 33130. (305) 562-6800, hello@trademarky.io. Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm ET. Available by appointment.
This free check is an AI-assisted preliminary screening against known U.S. trademark records. It is not a comprehensive clearance search and not legal advice. Only a licensed attorney can advise you on whether to file.