Helpful resources / Costs and fees
How much does a trademark cost?
A U.S. trademark has a government fee, an optional attorney fee and a few smaller fees years later. Here is every figure, what each one buys and which ones you can get back.
Written by Trademarky. Last checked September 4, 2026. 6 min read.
The short answer
A U.S. trademark application has two kinds of cost: the fee the USPTO charges to examine your application, and whatever you pay for help preparing it. The USPTO fee is $350 per class for a standard electronic application, under the fee schedule that took effect in January 2025. If you file yourself, that is the whole bill on filing day.
If you file with Trademarky, one trademark in one class comes to $800: our $450 attorney fee plus the $350 USPTO fee, passed through at cost. A second mark in the same order adds $300 plus its USPTO fee, because the search and the intake are shared. There is no hourly billing, and the free check and the free call that come before it cost nothing. The pricing page lays out every line.
The USPTO reviews its fees every few years and the schedule can change. The figures in this guide were checked on September 4, 2026; when they differ from the USPTO fee page, the USPTO is right and we will update the guide.
USPTO filing fees
The base application fee covers examination of one class. The USPTO adds surcharges when an application makes more work for the examining attorney, so a careful application really is cheaper:
- $350 per class: the base fee for an electronic application filed through the USPTO's online system, TEAS.
- $100 per class: added when the application is missing information the USPTO requires at filing, such as a proper description of the goods or a filing basis.
- $200 per class: added when you write your own description of the goods or services instead of choosing entries from the USPTO's Trademark ID Manual.
- $200 per class for every extra 1,000 characters: added when a free-form description runs long.
- $850 per class: the fee for a paper application, which almost nobody files.
The application fee pays the USPTO to examine the application. It is not returned if the examining attorney refuses the mark, if you abandon the application, or if you change your mind the day after filing. That is the main reason to search before you file rather than after.
Attorney fees
You are not required to hire an attorney if you live in the United States; applicants domiciled abroad must (see Do I need a trademark attorney?). If you do hire one, fees vary widely. Some bill by the hour, some sell flat packages, and many quote a filing fee that leaves out the parts that matter most later: the search, the office action responses and the deadline tracking after filing.
Whatever you are quoted, ask what it includes. A useful quote answers five questions. Who does the search, and how thorough is it? Who writes the description of goods and services? What happens when the USPTO sends an office action, and what does the response cost? Who tracks the deadlines? And who exactly will you be talking to?
Trademarky's answer is one price formula, set before you pay, with an attorney on every filing: your attorney reviews your report, takes your free call, prepares the application and files it. The firm was founded by Brent A. Friedman, Founding Attorney. The fee is $450 for the first application and $300 for each further one in the same order, and it covers the application whatever the class count: the comprehensive search, the consultation, the application and responses to non-technical office actions. USPTO fees are added at cost. A complex office action response is quoted before any work begins, never billed by surprise.
Costs after filing
Filing is the largest single cost, but it is not the last. A registration has to be kept alive, and an application filed before you start selling has one more step. All of these are USPTO fees, charged per class:
| Filing | When it is due | USPTO fee |
|---|---|---|
| Statement of Use | For an intent-to-use application, once the mark is in use, after the notice of allowance | $150 |
| Extension of time to file the Statement of Use | Every six months you are not yet in use, up to five extensions | $125 |
| Section 8 declaration of continued use | Between the fifth and sixth year after registration | $325 |
| Section 9 renewal, filed with a Section 8 | Between the ninth and tenth year, then every ten years | $325 |
| Section 15 declaration of incontestability | Optional, after five years of continuous use | $250 |
| Extension of time to respond to an office action | Optional; adds three months to the three-month response deadline | $125 |
| Grace period surcharge | When a Section 8 or 9 filing is made in the six months after its deadline | $100 |
Put together, a one-class registration filed on use in commerce with no office action pays $350 at filing, $325 for the Section 8 declaration in year five or six, and $650 for the combined Section 8 and Section 9 filing in year nine or ten: about $1,325 in government fees over the first ten years, and about $650 for every ten years after that. Miss a maintenance deadline and its grace period, and the registration is cancelled; there is no fee that brings it back.
Trademark maintenance and renewal walks through the deadlines. We send reminders well ahead of each one.
What is refundable
- USPTO fees: not refundable once the application is filed, whatever happens next. The fee pays for the examination, not the result.
- Trademarky's attorney fee: covered by a money-back guarantee. If the USPTO refuses your application because of a conflicting mark that our search should have found, we refund the $450 attorney fee.
- Not covered: refusals for other reasons, such as a descriptive mark or inaccurate information in the application, and any USPTO fee.
The pricing page has the full terms of the guarantee, and the FAQ answers the shorter questions about fees.
How to keep the cost down
- Search first. The free check screens U.S. trademark records in seconds, so you do not spend $350 on a name that a live registration already blocks.
- Choose your classes deliberately. Each class costs $350; cover what you sell now or will sell within the intent-to-use window, not every class you might one day want.
- Use the USPTO's ID Manual wording where it fits. Custom descriptions add $200 per class and invite questions from the examining attorney.
- File on use in commerce if you are already selling. It skips the $150 Statement of Use and its extensions.
- Answer office actions on time. An extension costs $125 per class, and a missed deadline costs the application.
- Calendar the maintenance deadlines the day the certificate arrives. The grace period surcharge is avoidable; a cancelled registration means a new application.
Every figure above, and what the flat fee does and does not include, is on the pricing page. See pricing
Questions about this topic
Do I get the USPTO fee back if my trademark is refused?
No. The USPTO fee pays for the examination of your application, and the USPTO keeps it whether the outcome is a registration, a refusal or an abandoned application. Trademarky's attorney fee is a different matter: it is refunded if the refusal is caused by a conflicting mark our search should have found.
Do I pay more if my trademark covers several classes?
Yes. The USPTO charges $350 for each class in the application, and the later maintenance fees are per class as well. Trademarky's attorney fee does not change with the class count; extra classes add the USPTO fee each and are confirmed with your attorney before anything is filed.
Is it cheaper to file my logo and my name together?
On filing day, yes: one combined application means one set of USPTO fees. But a combined mark protects the combination, not the name on its own, and a redesigned logo can mean a new application. Most brands are better served by a word mark first and a logo second.
Related guides
- Trademark classes explained: The 45 Nice classes the USPTO uses, what each covers, how to pick yours, what extra classes cost, and the pairs small businesses file most.
- Are trademark fees refundable?: Why USPTO fees stay paid after a refusal or withdrawal, the narrow cases the USPTO does refund, how to ask, and what an attorney fee guarantee covers.
- Trademark maintenance and renewal: keeping your registration alive: The Section 8, 9 and 15 filings that keep a U.S. trademark registration alive: when they are due, what the USPTO charges, grace periods and audits.
This guide is general information to help you understand the process. It is not legal advice and does not create an attorney-client relationship. For advice on your own mark, talk to an attorney on a free call.
Contact
Trademarky, LLC, 78 SW 7th St, 5th FL, Miami, FL 33130. (305) 562-6800, hello@trademarky.io. Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm ET. Available by appointment.
This free check is an AI-assisted preliminary screening against known U.S. trademark records. It is not a comprehensive clearance search and not legal advice. Only a licensed attorney can advise you on whether to file.