By Howard W. Kline

Over the past year, the USPTO deserves real credit for significantly reducing the pendency for examination of new trademark applications.

Trademark applications are now examined around 4.4 months after the application filing date – a dramatic improvement from one year ago. Faster USPTO examination gives brand owners meaningful insight into registrability before the six‑month international priority window closes, helping them file abroad with confidence while minimizing unnecessary expenses.

In fact, over the past few months, some of our clients with use‑in‑commerce and home‑country registration filing bases have obtained U.S. trademark registrations in less than seven months from the application filing date.

A familiar pattern: efficiencies in one area create bottlenecks in another. Case in point—Statements of Use for intent-to-use trademark applications. The USPTO aims for 15 days. The reality? 139 days and counting. In fact, for many of our clients, the wait is 6-7 months.

This delay matters. Intent-to-use trademark applications offer real value—locking in a constructive first use date while a brand gets ready to launch. But that value now comes with an impactful tradeoff, as it is very difficult to obtain a trademark registration certificate in a timely manner.  This matters where:

  • Your trademark is currently being used in commerce; and
  • Enforcement is time sensitive.

It therefore represents a real business risk to filing an intent-to-use application pre-product or company launch. And that risk can, of course, result in even larger negative impacts on

  • the company’s bottom line,
  • the ability to stop copycats, and
  • attractiveness to potential investors, partners, and/or purchasers

This does not mean intent‑to‑use applications are obsolete—but it does raise an important question: are current Statement of Use processing delays unintentionally diminishing their practical value? Until timelines normalize, brand owners and counsel alike need to weigh the benefits of intent‑to‑use filings against the growing cost of delayed registration and its further impact on the overall business.