Renew a trade mark

Renew a trade mark

A trade mark registration can be renewed every 10 years. To maintain your registration you need to renew the trade mark by the due date.

Trade mark registrations are renewable every ten years. The renewal due date is either the corresponding anniversary of the trade mark’s filing date or its convention priority date (whichever is earlier). A trade mark can be renewed in the one-year period before its renewal due date.

To renew a trade mark, please visit the Renew a Trade Mark section of the IPONZ online case management facility. You do not have to create an account or log into the facility in order to renew a trade mark, although you will be required to provide your name and email address.

If a trade mark registration is not renewed by its renewal due date, the status of the trade mark will change to ‘Registered - past expiry date’.

If a trade mark registration has the ‘Registered - past expiry date’ status, it can be restored to the register by renewing it within 6 months of its renewal due date. If the trade mark registration is not renewed within this 6-month period, the trade mark registration will expire.

Please be aware of misleading invoices offering to renew your trade mark registration in return for a high fee. If you receive an invoice from an unfamiliar organisation, do not pay it until you have verified that it is from an official source.

Renew or restore a trade mark

If you're a registered user:

  1. Log in to the IPONZ online case management facility, using the Login button at the top right area of this webpage.
  2. In your Inbox, under the Trade Mark section, select Renew Trade Mark. This will open a Renew IP page.
  3. Confirm that your name and email address is correct, then click the Search button. This will open a Search Trade Mark Case(s) page.
  4. Search for and select the trade mark(s) you wish to renew or restore. This will return you to the Renew IP page with the details of those trade marks displayed.
  5. Confirm that the displayed trade marks are the ones that you wish to renew or restore.
    • You may add more trade marks to this screen by clicking the Search button.
    • You may remove trade marks from this screen by clicking the Remove button next to those trade marks.
    • If you are the primary case contact for a trade mark, you may choose to renew that trade mark only for some of its goods and services classes, by ticking only the classes that you wish to renew. This is known as a partial renewal – see Partially renew a trade mark for more information.
  6. Click the Submit button on the lower right corner of the screen to proceed to online payment.

If you're a casual user and don't use the site frequently:

  1. Visit the Manage IP page of the IPONZ website. Under the Trade Marks section, select Renew . This will open a Renew IP page.
  2. Enter your name and email address, then click the Search button. This will open a Search Trade Mark Case(s) page.
  3. Search for and select the trade mark(s) you wish to renew or restore. This will return you to the Renew IP page with the details of those trade marks displayed. 
  4. Confirm that the displayed trade marks are the ones that you wish to renew or restore.
    • You may add more trade marks to this screen by clicking the Search button.
    • You may remove trade marks from this screen by clicking the Remove button next to those trade marks.
  5. Click the Submit button on the lower right corner of the screen to proceed to online payment.

Partially renew a trade mark

When renewing a trade mark, you may choose to renew it for only some of its goods and services classes, by ticking those classes in your renewal request. This option is only available if you are the primary case contact for the trade mark.

For example, the trade mark below is currently in Classes 9, 42 and 45 – but is being renewed in Classes 9 and 42 only.

 Partial Renewal of Trade Marks

If a trade mark has been renewed for only some of its goods and services classes, it may be renewed for some or all of the other classes at a later date, as long as this is done within the one year before the renewal due date. If the remaining classes are not renewed by or on the renewal due date, any classes that have not been renewed will be removed from the trade mark registration.

Division request

If you are not sure if you want to renew a trade mark registration for all of its goods and services classes, you can divide the trade mark registration into multiple registrations with different classes. You can then renew the trade mark registration with the classes you are certain about, while you consider what to do about the other classes. Any classes that are not renewed by the renewal due date will appear on the register with the ‘Registered - past expiry date’ status.

You can also divide a ‘Registered - past expiry date’ trade mark, then renew the classes you are certain about while you take more time to consider what to do about the other classes. Any classes that are not renewed within the 6-month period after the renewal due date will expire permanently.

To divide a trade mark registration or a trade mark with the status of ‘Registered - past expiry date’, please see our Maintain a trade mark page. A division request can take up to 15 working days to process, and should therefore be made at least 15 working days in advance of the relevant deadline.

Alteration request

If you are the owner of a trade mark and you don’t wish to renew all of its goods and services classes, you can use an alteration request to strike out any classes that you don’t wish to remain in the trade mark. Any classes that are struck out in this way will be cancelled immediately.

To file a request to alter a trade mark registration, please see our Maintain a trade mark page. An alteration request can take up to 15 working days to process, and should therefore be made at least 15 working days in advance of a trade mark’s renewal due date.

Refund request

You can request a refund of part of the renewal fee if you’ve renewed a trade mark for all of its goods and services classes by mistake, and only required a partial renewal. For more information, please see our Refund Policy.

When requesting a refund in this situation, please advise the classes to which the renewal should apply. When we process your refund request, any classes that are not being renewed will be removed from the trade mark registration. We will then refund the renewal fee for the class or classes that have been removed.

Please note that IPONZ has discretion on whether or not refunds will be provided. We will consider the individual circumstances of each refund request.