USPTO fought through COVID and has maintained rigorous review
Andrew Comer ’24, April 5, “The Post-COVID Trademark Landscape: USPTO Backlog and Approaching Fee Increases Drive Urgency for Applicants,” FORTIS LAW PARTNERS, accessed July 10, 2024, https://www.fortislawpartners.com/blog/uspto-backlog-and-approaching-fee-increases/
The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) experienced significant backup and processing delays during the COVID-19 pandemic. While delays have eased, they still haven’t gone away, due in part to the doubling of applications between 2020 and 2022. Overall, the trademark registration process has become notably more challenging in recent years, but there are ways to ease the burden.
Number of Applications Continues to Rise While Processing Times Continue to Lag
Despite receiving more than 1.6 million trademark applications in 2022 alone, the USPTO is not rushing to rubber-stamp applications. Instead, they are maintaining their usual rigorous review of applications for various issues, including conflicts with existing registrations and prior-filed applications.