Docketing Maintenance Dates

The process of filing required documents with the PTO to continue a registration in force is called maintenance. Trademark owners should establish a calendar or docketing system to remind them of the various maintenance filing dates. Alternatively, the trademark search companies identified in Chapter 3 will provide reminders for a fee. If properly maintained, trademarks can last forever; thus, investing some time and money in a docketing system, particularly for companies with significant inventories of marks, is critical. To check the status of a registered mark, call the PTO's status line at (703) 305-8747 or access the PTO's Trademark Applications and Registration Retrieval (TARR) database through the PTO's Web site at http://tarr.uspto.gov.