An intent-to-use application registers only once the mark is actually in commerce and you have proved it. The statement of use is that proof, due six months from the notice of allowance with five extensions available.
What counts as use in commerce
Real commercial use affecting interstate commerce — goods sold or transported, or services rendered. Not a single sale to a friend arranged to hold the application open. Not a website announcing a product that cannot be bought.
Token use is a recurring theme in cancellation proceedings years later, because the verified statement is on the file forever and the sales records either support it or do not.
The two dates
- Date of first use anywhere — the first use of the mark on the goods or services at all.
- Date of first use in commerce — the first use that qualifies as interstate commerce.
They can be the same and often are. Both are verified statements: estimate them carelessly and you have created a weakness that costs nothing today and may cost a great deal in a dispute.
Specimens
Per class, and showing the mark as actually used. For goods: packaging, labels, tags, or a product page where the mark appears near the item with a way to order it. For services: advertising that describes the services, not merely a page carrying the logo.
A mock-up is not a specimen. Neither is a printer's proof or a rendering of packaging that has not been produced.
Dividing the application
If the mark is in use for some classes and not others, divide. The classes in use proceed to registration while the rest continue under the remaining extensions, instead of holding the whole application back for the slowest product.
The alternative — declaring use across everything to get it registered — is the misstatement that gets found later.
Count your extensions
Five, six months each, thirty-six months from the notice of allowance and no more. Knowing which request you are on is the difference between a routine filing and the last chance to file at all.