Trademark Filings in March 2026: Filings Rebounded to a New 13-Month High

March 2026 delivered a sharp rebound in USPTO trademark application activity, reaching 60,510 total filings—the highest monthly figure in the 13-month window provided. That is up materially from February 2026 (49,481) and ahead of March 2025 (52,970), indicating both a strong month-over-month recovery and a clear year-over-year increase.

Key numbers (March 2026)

• Total filings: 60,510
• Month-over-month change: +11,029 vs. February 2026
• Year-over-year change: +7,540 vs. March 2025

A separate status breakdown in the dataset shows 60,419 pending, 68 abandoned, and 0 registered for March’s snapshot. That mix should be read as a status snapshot of the records in this dataset, not as a count of registrations the USPTO issued during the month.

Overall filing volume: March sets a new high in the window

March’s filing level stands out against adjacent months and the broader run:

• March exceeded January 2026 (52,893) and December 2025 (53,598).
• March also topped every month in the prior year’s run within the provided window.

For brand owners and counsel, this kind of step-change matters because higher filing volume typically translates into more crowded search results, more Office Action volume, and—over time—greater conflict potential in heavily trafficked classes.

NICE class activity: where filings concentrated

The busiest NICE classes in March 2026 were dominated by entertainment/services and technology, alongside retail and apparel:

NICE class	Filings
041	8,455
042	7,520
009	7,481
035	6,866
025	6,417

These five classes (education/entertainment; tech/services; electronics/software goods; advertising/retail; clothing) account for a large share of overall trademark demand and tend to be among the most clearance-intensive for many brands.

Other high-activity consumer-facing classes included 003 (3,188), 005 (3,041), 028 (2,678), 016 (2,492), and 021 (2,372).

Fastest month-over-month growth: growth broadened beyond core tech

Several classes posted large month-over-month gains, including both technology and product-oriented categories:

NICE class	MoM growth	March filings
006 (metal goods)	+52.7%	632
015 (musical instruments)	+50.0%	90
027 (floor coverings / wall hangings)	+39.2%	238
026 (haberdashery)	+36.3%	496
022 (ropes/tarpaulins)	+33.1%	189
016 (paper goods/printed matter)	+33.0%	2,492
021 (household/kitchen utensils)	+31.9%	2,372
012 (vehicles/transport)	+30.5%	1,086
020 (furniture/mirrors)	+28.5%	1,738
042 (software/tech services)	+27.2%	7,520

Practical reading: the growth list is not limited to software and entertainment. The presence of multiple physical-goods classes among the fastest risers signals widening trademark demand across consumer products and industrial categories, which can create clearance and prosecution pressure in classes that some tech-forward teams historically under-monitor.

Registration rates: mixed outcomes across filing cohorts

The cohort table in the dataset presents “registration rates” for older filing months. Interpreting these numbers requires care because cohorts mature over time and newer cohorts are generally incomplete.

Within the cohorts shown, the highest registration rates were:

• 2025-01-01: 48.3%
• 2024-04-01: 47.4%
• 2024-05-01: 47.3%
• 2024-10-01: 46.1%
• 2024-12-01: 45.7%

Lower-performing cohorts in the set included 2024-08-01 (27.9%), 2024-07-01 (32.5%), and 2025-02-01 (34.8%). The most recent cohort listed, 2025-03-01, shows 40.8%.

What this suggests (without over-reading it): prosecution outcomes remain uneven by filing month in the provided cohorts. As filing volume increases, small differences in cohort performance can translate into meaningful swings in attorney workload (Office Actions, extensions, and potential appeals) and brand-side timing expectations.

Notable filings: major brands remained active

March’s dataset includes filings by well-known owners across entertainment, consumer electronics, beverages, apparel, and restaurant services:

• DISNEY ENTERPRISES,INC. — INFINITY VISION — serial 99732764
• SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS, CO., LTD. — SILICONE RING MAGNET — serial 99729844
• SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS, CO., LTD. — 360 STAND MAGNET — serial 99729835
• AMAZON TECHNOLOGIES, INC. — serial 99730138
• AMAZON TECHNOLOGIES, INC. — PETRA — serial 99729283
• THE COCA-COLA COMPANY — CATRINA — serial 99725962
• THE COCA-COLA COMPANY — FRNX — serial 99725949
• THE COCA-COLA COMPANY — DRAYK — serial 99725945
• THE COCA-COLA COMPANY — HOWLIE — serial 99725964
• THE COCA-COLA COMPANY — HAYSTACKS — serial 99725969
• APPLE, INC. — SNEAKY SASQUATCH — serial 99724738
• NIKE, INC. — HYPERJACKET — serial 99722290
• APPLEBEE'S RESTAURANTS LLC — DOLLARMAMA — serial 99720658

The concentration of filings by large consumer brands is consistent with ongoing defensive coverage (blocking and portfolio maintenance) alongside new product and campaign launches.

What it means for counsel and brand teams

• Clearance workload will skew toward crowded classes (041/042/009/035/025): higher baseline filing counts increase the probability of close conflicts and narrower coexistence lanes.
• Growth in physical-goods classes (e.g., 006/012/020/021/026/027) is a watch-list signal: brands expanding from digital to tangible products (or vice versa) face more cross-category collision risk.
• Cohort performance variability supports tighter intake discipline: stronger upfront clearance, carefully scoped identifications, and consistent specimen/use planning help reduce downstream friction—especially when overall filing volume rises.

Bottom line: March 2026 combined record-high filing volume (within the provided window) with heavy activity in the most competitive classes and notable acceleration across several product categories—conditions that typically increase both clearance complexity and prosecution throughput demands.