How long do I have to oppose a trademark application?

Thirty days from the application's publication in the USPTO Official Gazette (15 U.S.C. § 1063), with extensions of time available on request to the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board. After a mark registers, the remedy shifts to a cancellation petition under 15 U.S.C. § 1064 — with most grounds cut off five years after registration.

Opposition runs on the USPTO's calendar, not the challenger's. When an examining attorney approves a federal application, it is published in the Official Gazette, and anyone who believes registration would damage them has 30 days to oppose before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (15 U.S.C. § 1063); extensions of time are routinely available but must be requested within the window. An opposition is a litigation-like proceeding on paper — pleadings, discovery, and briefing — usually founded on likelihood of confusion with an earlier mark. Miss the window and the fight gets harder: after registration the challenge becomes a petition to cancel under 15 U.S.C. § 1064, and once the registration turns five years old, most grounds — including ordinary likelihood of confusion — fall away, leaving narrower theories such as abandonment, fraud, or genericness. Because no one is notified personally when a confusingly similar mark is published, brand owners commonly use watch services to monitor the Gazette. Deadlines this short reward monitoring, not luck.

Authority: 15 U.S.C. § 1063