How Much Does a Trademark Cost?

So, how much does a trademark cost in the United States? The pleasantly short answer is $350 per class for the basic federal application. The less pleasantly short answer is that $350 can become $700, $1,200, $2,500, or considerably more depending on how many classes you need, whether you are already using the mark, whether the application runs into problems, and whether you hire a trademark attorney.

Think of the USPTO filing fee as the admission ticket rather than the entire evening out. Searches, legal assistance, intent-to-use filings, Office Action responses, and future maintenance can all join the bill.

This guide breaks down current U.S. trademark registration costs, including federal and state fees, attorney expenses, hidden costs, renewals, and practical ways to protect a brand without accidentally turning trademark registration into a small financial bonfire.

Trademark Cost at a Glance

The key phrase throughout that table is “per class.” Trademark classes are where seemingly innocent budgets sometimes develop expensive hobbies.

How Much Does It Cost to File a Federal Trademark?

The United States Patent and Trademark Office, or USPTO, currently charges a base application fee of $350 for each class of goods or services in most electronically filed Section 1 and Section 44 applications.

If everything you sell belongs in a single class, your basic government filing cost could therefore be just $350.

Suppose you launch a clothing brand selling T-shirts, sweatshirts, and jackets. Those products may all fit within the same clothing class, so a carefully prepared application could have a $350 base fee.

Now suppose the company also operates retail stores or offers custom printing services. Those activities may fall into additional classes. Two classes mean a $700 base filing fee. Three classes mean $1,050.

Why Trademark Classes Matter So Much

The USPTO uses an international classification system consisting of 45 classes covering goods and services. You are not paying for every product individually. You are generally paying according to the classes containing the goods and services identified in your application.

That means a company selling ten closely related products might need only one class, while a diversified company using the same brand for software, clothing, educational services, and financial services could need several.

Choosing too many classes increases costs. Choosing too few may leave important business activities outside the registration. The cheapest application is not necessarily the smartest application.

Newer USPTO Application Fees You Should Know About

The federal trademark fee structure changed significantly in January 2025. Older articles may still discuss the former TEAS Plus and TEAS Standard fee system. Those figures should not be used for current budgeting.

$100 Per Class for Insufficient Information

An application that fails to provide information required for the USPTO’s base application can trigger an additional $100 fee per class.

Examples can include missing required applicant information or required statements relating to the mark.

This is the trademark equivalent of paying extra because you forgot something before leaving homeexcept the forgotten item might be your legal entity information rather than your sunglasses.

$200 Per Class for Custom Goods or Services Descriptions

The USPTO maintains an Identification Manual containing preapproved descriptions of goods and services. Applicants who select suitable descriptions directly from the manual can generally avoid a special identification surcharge.

If you instead use the application’s free-form text field to create a custom identification, the USPTO charges an additional $200 per affected class.

Custom wording can be necessary for genuinely unusual products or services. It should not, however, be used merely because typing your own description feels more adventurous.

Long Descriptions Can Cost Even More

When free-form identification exceeds the USPTO’s character allowance, another $200 can be charged for each additional group of 1,000 characters beyond the first 1,000 in the affected class.

In trademark applications, concise writing is not merely elegant. It can literally save money.

How Much Does an Intent-to-Use Trademark Cost?

You do not necessarily have to wait until a product launches before filing a federal trademark application. Businesses with a bona fide intention to use a mark can file under an intent-to-use basis.

The original application still carries the normal base filing fee. Additional costs appear later because registration cannot be completed until qualifying use in commerce is demonstrated.

An Amendment to Allege Use or Statement of Use currently costs $150 per class.

If you receive a Notice of Allowance but are not ready to demonstrate use, you may request six-month extensions. Each extension currently costs $125 per class, and up to five extensions may be available if the requirements are satisfied.

Example of an Intent-to-Use Budget

Imagine a startup filing a one-class application before its product launches:

• Initial application: $350
• Statement of Use: $150
• One extension, if needed: $125

Government fees could therefore reach $500 without an extension or $625 with one extension, even before professional services are considered.

How Much Does a Trademark Search Cost?

You can search the USPTO’s federal trademark database yourself without paying a USPTO search fee. A basic search is a useful start, but an identical-name search alone is not enough.

Trademark conflicts may involve marks that look different but sound similar, convey similar meanings, or create similar commercial impressions when used for related goods and services.

A comprehensive clearance search can therefore include:

• Federal registrations and pending applications
• State trademark databases
• Business directories
• Search engines and websites
• Domain names
• Marketplace listings
• Common-law trademark use

The USPTO itself recommends looking beyond its federal database because earlier common-law or state use can create problems even when a matching federal registration is not obvious.

Professional search costs vary widely. Simple searches may be bundled into legal-service packages, while comprehensive attorney-reviewed searches can cost hundreds of dollars or more.

How Much Does a Trademark Attorney Cost?

Applicants domiciled in the United States generally are not required to hire an attorney. Foreign-domiciled applicants, however, generally must be represented before the USPTO by a qualified U.S.-licensed attorney.

Attorney pricing varies substantially by location, complexity, experience, and what is included. Online legal marketplaces and trademark providers commonly advertise basic trademark work starting in the hundreds of dollars, while comprehensive attorney-assisted registration packages can run into the low thousands.

Some lawyers charge flat fees. Others bill hourly. A package might include a preliminary search, legal analysis, identification of suitable classes, application preparation, specimen review, filing, and routine correspondence.

Read the engagement agreement carefully. A suspiciously cheap trademark package may cover little more than putting information into an application form.

When Paying for an Attorney May Make Sense

Professional advice becomes particularly valuable when:

• The brand is central to the company’s value
• Similar trademarks already exist
• You need several classes
• Your goods or services are difficult to classify
• You are filing a logo or complex design
• The trademark may be descriptive
• You have received an Office Action
• Another business threatens opposition
• You expect international expansion

The USPTO filing fee is generally money you should treat as committed once you file. Saving a few hundred dollars on preparation can be a bad bargain if the application was fundamentally flawed before it reached the examiner.

What Happens If the USPTO Issues an Office Action?

An Office Action is an official USPTO communication identifying legal or procedural problems with an application.

Some Office Actions involve relatively simple corrections. Others raise substantial legal issues such as likelihood of confusion or descriptiveness.

There normally is not a new government fee simply because you respond to many ordinary Office Actions, although certain extensions, petitions, or application changes can carry fees. Attorney costs are another matter.

A straightforward response might cost a few hundred dollars in professional fees. A complicated legal response requiring research and argument can cost considerably more.

If an application becomes abandoned, a petition to revive currently carries a $250 USPTO fee when revival is available.

State Trademark vs. Federal Trademark Costs

Businesses sometimes consider state registration because it can be cheaper than federal registration.

For example, California currently lists a state trademark or service mark filing fee of $70 per classification, while New York lists $50 per classification.

Those numbers look attractive next to $350 per federal class, but the protection is not equivalent.

A state registration generally operates within that state’s system. Federal registration offers significantly broader nationwide advantages for qualifying marks used in interstate commerce.

The Small Business Administration also emphasizes that registering a business entity name is not the same thing as obtaining a trademark. Likewise, buying a domain name or filing a DBA does not automatically provide federal trademark registration.

How Much Does It Cost to Maintain a Trademark?

A federal trademark registration is not a framed certificate you hang on the wall and forget until retirement. Maintenance filings are required if you want the registration to remain active.

Years 5 to 6: Section 8

Between the fifth and sixth anniversaries of registration, owners generally must submit a Section 8 Declaration showing continued use or qualifying excusable nonuse.

The current electronic filing fee is $325 per class.

Eligible owners can also file an optional Section 15 Declaration of Incontestability after five years of qualifying continuous use. The current fee is $250 per class.

Years 9 to 10: Sections 8 and 9

Between the ninth and tenth anniversaries, the owner generally files a combined Section 8 declaration and Section 9 renewal application.

The current combined government fee is $650 per class.

The same type of renewal filing is then required every 10 years. So yes, a trademark can potentially last indefinitelybut the relationship requires occasional paperwork and money. Much like home ownership, only with fewer leaking faucets.

What Is the Lifetime Cost of a Trademark?

Consider a straightforward one-class federal trademark already being used in commerce.

The basic government-cost timeline could look something like this:

• Initial filing: $350
• Required Section 8 filing in years 5–6: $325
• Combined Sections 8 and 9 filing in years 9–10: $650
• Another combined renewal roughly 10 years later: $650 at today’s fee level

Using current fees purely for illustration, that is $1,975 in government fees over roughly 20 years, excluding future fee changes, optional filings, lawyers, searches, extensions, disputes, and other expenses.

For a three-class registration, today’s equivalent costs would multiply substantially.

How Much Does It Cost to Trademark a Name and Logo?

A common misconception is that one application automatically protects a business name, logo, slogan, product packaging, and every creative thought that occurred during lunch.

It does not.

A standard-character word mark and a stylized logo are different trademark formats. Businesses seeking separate registrations for both generally need separate applications and separate filing fees.

Suppose a company wants one federal registration for its brand name and another for its logo, with each application covering two classes.

The base government filing calculation would be:

• Brand name: $350 × 2 classes = $700
• Logo: $350 × 2 classes = $700
• Total base application fees: $1,400

This is why trademark strategy matters. A startup does not always need to register everything simultaneously.

How to Reduce Trademark Registration Costs

1. Search Before You File

Discovering a major conflict before filing is cheaper than discovering it after paying a nontrivial filing fee, printing packaging, ordering signs, and proudly announcing the brand to 40,000 social-media followers.

2. Choose Classes Strategically

Cover the goods and services that genuinely matter rather than collecting trademark classes like souvenir magnets.

3. Use the USPTO ID Manual When Appropriate

Selecting acceptable descriptions directly from the USPTO identification system can help avoid the $200-per-class custom-description fee.

4. Submit a Complete Application

Providing all required information can avoid the $100-per-class insufficient-information surcharge.

5. Decide Whether You Really Need an Intent-to-Use Filing

Early filing can be strategically valuable, especially before a major launch, but it brings future Statement of Use and possibly extension fees. Include those costs in the launch budget.

6. Calendar Every Deadline

Missing a deadline can lead to extension fees, revival costs, orin the worst casethe loss of the application or registration.

Is a Trademark Worth the Cost?

For a business investing heavily in a brand, federal registration can be extremely valuable. Federal registration provides important legal advantages, including nationwide presumptions concerning ownership and rights in the registered mark for the listed goods or services.

It can also make enforcement easier, support certain federal court claims, facilitate recording with U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and provide a foundation for seeking protection internationally.

Registration is not mandatory to possess every trademark right in the United States. Common-law rights can arise through actual use. Those rights, however, can be geographically narrower and harder to establish.

The better question is therefore often not, “Can I avoid spending $350?” It is, “How valuable will this brand become, and what would an unexpected rebrand cost me?”

Real-World Experiences and Lessons About Trademark Costs

Trademark costs make considerably more sense when viewed through the kinds of situations business owners actually encounter.

One common experience involves the founder who develops a great brand name, buys the domain, commissions a $2,000 logo, prints packaging, and launches advertising before conducting a serious trademark search. A few months later, the founder discovers a similar earlier mark operating in a related industry.

At that point, the $350 application fee is almost irrelevant. The expensive part is changing packaging, replacing signs, migrating social accounts, redirecting websites, contacting customers, and rebuilding brand recognition. The practical lesson is simple: clearance comes before decoration.

Another familiar situation is the entrepreneur who assumes one trademark class covers the entire company. Imagine a fitness brand beginning with downloadable exercise software and later expanding into clothing, supplements, physical gyms, and coaching services. Those activities do not necessarily live comfortably inside a single trademark class.

The founder may initially be shocked that broader protection costs more, but this illustrates why the trademark budget should follow the business model. Protecting every hypothetical product planned for the next 20 years can waste money. Protecting only today’s smallest activity can create gaps. A sensible filing strategy considers both current operations and realistic expansion.

Intent-to-use applications produce another useful lesson. Startups often want to secure a brand before launch because waiting until products are on sale can create strategic risk. That can be a good decision, but founders sometimes budget only for the initial filing.

Then the Notice of Allowance arrives. The product is delayed. Manufacturing slips three months. The new website is still showing photographs of suspiciously happy stock models. Suddenly another $125-per-class extension is necessary, followed later by a $150-per-class Statement of Use.

Neither fee is catastrophic, but repeated across several classes they become meaningful. Good trademark budgeting therefore includes the entire prosecution process, not merely day one.

Attorney expenses create a similar balancing act. A simple one-class application involving a strong, distinctive name with a clean search may be manageable for an experienced business owner. A borderline descriptive mark surrounded by several similar registrations is a different animal entirely.

Paying an attorney $1,000 or more may initially feel painful when the government application itself costs only $350. But professional advice can help determine whether the mark is worth filing at all, whether the goods and services description makes sense, and whether existing marks present serious obstacles.

Finally, successful businesses sometimes forget the happiest trademark expense of all: renewal fees. Ten years after registration, $650 per class can look irritating on an invoice. But if the brand has survived for a decade and still generates revenue, paying to maintain its federal registration is often much cheaper than rebuilding the brand from scratch.

The broader experience is that trademark registration is rarely expensive merely because of one USPTO fee. Costs grow when businesses have multiple classes, multiple marks, incomplete applications, delayed launches, difficult Office Actions, or legal conflicts. The best cost-control strategy is therefore not chasing the cheapest filing provider. It is making the right decisions before filing.

Conclusion: So, How Much Does a Trademark Really Cost?

For a straightforward U.S. federal application covering one class, the current minimum base USPTO filing fee is $350. A two-class application begins at $700, while three classes begin at $1,050.

From there, the total trademark cost depends on the details. Custom identifications can add $200 per class. Missing application information can add $100 per class. Intent-to-use applications require later fees. Attorney assistance may add hundreds or thousands of dollars. Maintenance filings continue throughout the life of the registration.

For many small businesses, a realistic starting budget might range from several hundred dollars for a carefully prepared DIY application to a few thousand dollars for professional search, strategy, preparation, and filing assistance.

The smartest approach is to view trademark registration as an investment in a brand asset rather than another government form. Spend enough time on the search, choose the right classes, file accurately, and keep future maintenance deadlines on the calendar. Your future selfand possibly your future attorneywill appreciate the effort.

Note: Trademark fees and procedures can change. The figures discussed here reflect current U.S. fee structures reviewed for 2026 publication and are provided for general informational purposes, not individualized legal advice. Always confirm current USPTO fees before filing.