307.04    Late Petition to Cancel

A petition to cancel a registration issued on the Principal Register under the Act of 1946 on a ground not specified in Trademark Act § 14(3) or Trademark Act § 14(5), 15 U.S.C. § 1064(3)  or 15 U.S.C. § 1064(5), must be filed (with the required fee) within five years from the date of the registration of the mark. Similarly, a petition to cancel a registration issued on the Principal Register under the Act of 1881 or the Act of 1905, and published under the provisions of Trademark Act § 12(c) (of the Trademark Act § of 1946), 15 U.S.C. § 1062(c), on a ground not specified in Trademark Act § 14(3) or Trademark Act § 14(5), 15 U.S.C. § 1064(3)  or 15 U.S.C. § 1064(5)  must be filed within five years from the date of publication under Trademark Act § 12(c),15 U.S.C. § 1062(c).

If a party attempts to electronically file a petition to cancel one of these Principal Register registrations after the expiration of the five-year period and does not select in ESTTA one or more of the grounds specified in Trademark Act § 14(3) or Trademark Act § 14(5), 15 U.S.C. § 1064(3)  or 15 U.S.C. § 1064(5), the petition is late, and ESTTA will not institute the cancellation. In the rare instance that a petition to cancel has been filed on paper and after the expiration of the five-year period and does not plead one or more of the grounds specified in Trademark Act § 14(3) or Trademark Act § 14(5), 15 U.S.C. § 1064(3)  or 15 U.S.C. § 1064(5)  the petition is late, and will be rejected by the Board. The petition to cancel will not be instituted, and any submitted fee for the petition to cancel only will be refunded. However, the rejection of the petition is without prejudice to petitioner’s right to electronically file, at any time thereafter, a new petition to cancel the registration, and to plead therein one or more of the grounds specified in Trademark Act § 14(3) or Trademark Act § 14(5), 15 U.S.C. § 1064(3)  or 15 U.S.C. § 1064(5).

For information concerning the effect of fee and signature requirements on the timing of a petition to cancel, see TBMP § 308.02(b) and TBMP § 309.02(b).