Trademark Office Action Response Period Shortened to Three Months featured image

Trademark Office Action Response Period Shortened to Three Months

by John DiGiacomo

Partner

Trademark

As pretty much every applicant who has filed a trademark within the past few years already knows, the wait time to see your mark registered with the USPTO feels longer than it takes to grow a waist-length beard. Well, it seems that the USPTO has acknowledged our collective impatience and has issued a new rule to remedy that.

Beginning December 1, 2022, the response time for an Office action issued for a trademark will be shortened from six months to three months. Office actions are issued when the trademark examiner has identified a procedural or substantive issue with an application. These actions are common, and most applications receive one on their route to registration. And thanks to this new rule, this response period change will significantly shorten the applicant’s waiting period for the USPTO’s review! The USPTO will still, however, provide an option to request one three-month extension of the deadline – provided you pay a fee – if more time is needed. This new three-month response period and extension will also be applied to Office actions issued in connection with post-registration maintenance, as well as renewal filings.

This is great news for trademark applicants! And while the registration process will remain a lengthy one, this new rule will be very proactive and at least make the waiting period much shorter so applicants can get back to focusing their energy on more important matters – like grooming their waist-length beard, perhaps?

Read more about this new rule here: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2022/10/13/2022-22217/changes-to-implement-provisions-of-the-trademark-modernization-act-of-2020-delay-of-effective-date

Extra, Extra!
Recent Posts

Worrying About SaaS Agreements and Cross-Border Data Transfers

Worrying About SaaS Agreements and Cross-Border Data Transfers

Internet Law

When your business is contemplating a software-as-a-service (“SaaS”) agreement, there are a large number of considerations. An SaaS agreement is, of course, a subscription service where a software package is centrally hosted and accessed by a SaaS company’s customers. Issues to be aware of include: As important as the foregoing issues are, one often overlooked […]

Read more about Worrying About SaaS Agreements and Cross-Border Data Transfers

FAQs About Legal Services for Social Media Influencers, Bloggers, and Online Content Creators

FAQs About Legal Services for Social Media Influencers, Bloggers, and Online Content Creators

Internet Law

If you are serious about your career as a social media influencer, blogger, and/or online content creator, you ARE going to need legal services at some point. Online creation is big business now, and big business means the need for legal services. The Internet and Social Media Attorneys at Revision Legal are here to help. […]

Read more about FAQs About Legal Services for Social Media Influencers, Bloggers, and Online Content Creators

Take it Down Act: Ban on “Revenge Porn” Goes National

Take it Down Act: Ban on “Revenge Porn” Goes National

Internet Law

Congress recently passed the Take It Down Act (“TIDA”), and the law was signed by the President in mid-May 2025. See AP media report here. Interestingly enough, “Take It Down” is an acronym for “Tools to Address Known Exploitation by Immobilizing Technological Deepfakes on Websites and Networks Act.” TIDA prohibits what is commonly called “revenge […]

Read more about Take it Down Act: Ban on “Revenge Porn” Goes National

Put Revision Legal on your side