From combating fraudulent filings to clearing pathways for legitimate brands, the USPTO’s trademark register cleanup efforts are helping businesses protect their brands and create new opportunities for innovation and growth 

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has now canceled more than 100,000 unused goods and services from trademark registrations, marking a major milestone in its ongoing efforts to strengthen the accuracy and integrity of the trademark register. This achievement underscores a core commitment of America’s Branding Agency: a reliable trademark register built on actual use in commerce. 

Through expungement and reexamination proceedings, the USPTO removed goods or services from registrations based on evidence that they were never used in commerce or were not in use by a required deadline. These cancellations have more than doubled in just over a year as the agency cracks down on fraud. Most of these proceedings target registrations connected to specimen farm websites, fake storefronts created by bad faith filing firms.

While most proceedings were Director-initiated, you can also request an expungement or reexamination proceeding.