Defending Your Trademark Application: What to Do About an Objection, Hearing, or Opposition

If you're reading this because you've already received a notice — an examination report, a hearing listing, or a notice of opposition — this guide is for you specifically. It doesn't repeat the full mechanics of each proceeding; it tells you what actually matters right now, and where to go for the detail behind each one.

If you've received an examination report objection

You have 30 days from the date the report was issued to respond, and the Registry does not send a reminder. Missing that window doesn't put your application on hold — it results in the application being treated as abandoned, which means losing the filing date and the fee already paid. See what happens if you miss the deadline for exactly what that costs. The response itself has to substantively address the specific grounds the examiner cited, not just restate that you'd like the mark registered — the full guide to examination reports and objections covers what each ground actually requires.

If you've been listed for a show-cause hearing

A hearing means your written response didn't fully satisfy the examiner. This is a genuine legal proceeding — you, or whoever represents you, has to argue the case in person, addressing the examiner's specific points in a live back-and-forth, not resubmit the same written reply. See our explainer on what a show-cause hearing involves. Losing at this stage results in formal refusal, not a second written chance — see what happens if your application is rejected for the appeal and refiling options that follow.

If you've received a notice of opposition

A third party has four months from journal publication to file an opposition, and once they have, you have two months from receiving that notice to file a counter-statement. That deadline is not extendable, and missing it means the application is deemed abandoned with no opposition decision even needed. The counter-statement has to substantively address every ground raised, not simply deny them — see the full guide to opposition proceedings for the evidence stage and hearing that typically follow, and what happens if someone opposes your trademark for the practical rundown.

What these three situations have in common

Each of them runs on a fixed deadline that the Registry does not chase you about, and each of them can end an application that's already had real time and money put into it — not just the government fee, but everything built around the mark up to that point. And in each of them, what's actually being asked for is a substantive legal argument, not paperwork: distinguishing your mark, making an affirmative case for distinctiveness, or rebutting specific evidence — the same skill, applied to whichever stage you're at.

What to expect from whoever represents you at this stage

Two patterns show up repeatedly in reviews of filing services, on consumer complaint sites generally: being asked for additional payment after the fact, for work that hadn't actually progressed — and being told a filing was "complete" while the government's own portal showed otherwise. Neither is something you can catch until you check the Registry's own records directly.

The way to avoid both is straightforward to state, if not always easy to find: a fixed price for the response, agreed with you in writing before the work starts — not a follow-up invoice — and one specific advocate who takes direct responsibility for the case from this point forward, not a reassignment to whoever's available. See what trademark registration actually costs for the broader pricing picture, and pricing for the current figures.

If you're currently facing any of the situations above, get in touch directly rather than working through the rest of our general guides — see help with an existing objection or opposition for how to reach us.

Get help with an objection or opposition