Only 34% of opposed U.S. trademark applications register. Who files the oppositions

How an opposition works

After the USPTO approves an application, it publishes the mark in its Official Gazette. For 30 days anyone who believes the registration would damage them can file an opposition with the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board, or ask for more time, up to 180 days from publication in all. An opposition is a small lawsuit: the applicant has to answer within the deadline the Board sets, and an applicant who does not answer loses by default.

Oppositions are at their highest in a decade

From 5,390 in 2015, oppositions rose to 8,066 in 2025. Requests for more time to oppose are even more common: about 11,200 a year.

Two in three opposed applications never register

Of the 44,666 applications opposed from 2015 to 2021, 15,182 (34%) went on to register; 410 are still undecided and the rest ended without registering. Few oppositions reach a full Board decision: most end because the applicant abandons, settles or does not answer. When an opposed mark does register, it is often after the applicant narrowed its goods or services in a settlement.

Who opposes the most

Most opposers are occasional: 20,017 of the 28,558 companies and people who opposed a U.S. application since 2015 did it only once. A small group opposes constantly. The 100 most active filed 18% of all oppositions, led by Monster Energy Company with 795.

The opposer makes a large difference. Of the applications opposed by McDonald's Corporation, only 4% registered, and for Mattel, Inc. and Entrepreneur Media, Inc. it was 5% and 7%. At the other end, 70% of those opposed by Trek Bicycle Corporation registered, and 59% for Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. A high rate usually means the opposer settles for narrower goods or a coexistence agreement; a low rate means the applications it opposes seldom survive, whether the applicant gave up, withdrew or lost. The figures do not say which.

Where oppositions are most common

Across all classes, about 12.5 in every 1,000 applications filed from 2017 to 2021 were opposed. In drinks, tobacco and fashion the rate is far higher, and a few large brand owners account for many of the cases:

An extension of time is a warning

A request for more time to oppose costs a fraction of an opposition, and many brand owners file one first, to look at the application or to open a negotiation. Of the 79,168 marks that drew an extension from 2015 to 2021, 47% were then opposed. Of the rest, 60% registered. If an extension is filed against your application, the party behind it is named in the notice, and contacting them early is often the cheapest way through. What to do at each stage is in our trademark opposition guide.

What it means if you are choosing a brand

• Check who owns the marks close to yours. A similar mark held by a frequent opposer is a bigger risk than one held by an owner who never enforces. The trademark availability check flags matches whose owner often opposes.
• Stay clear of famous brands' words, even in other classes. Many of the most active opposers are household names that oppose well beyond their own goods.
• Never ignore an opposition. An application whose owner does not answer by the Board's deadline loses by default.
• Watch your own brand. Oppositions work both ways: the 30 days after publication are when you can stop a look-alike most cheaply. A free brand watch emails you when someone files a name or logo close to yours.