How Much Does a Trademark Cost? A Realistic Breakdown

The honest answer to "how much does a trademark cost" is: it depends how many classes you file in, whether you use an attorney, and whether anything goes wrong along the way. Here's what actually makes up the bill.

The government filing fee

The USPTO charges a base application fee per class of goods or services, currently around $350 under the 2025 fee schedule. That's per class, not per application — if your product spans two classes (say, Class 9 for downloadable software and Class 42 for the SaaS itself), you're paying the per-class fee twice. Fees are set by the USPTO and change periodically, so always check the official USPTO fee schedule for current numbers rather than relying on a number you saw last year.

The exact fee also depends on which TEAS filing option you use and how precisely your goods/services description matches the USPTO's pre-approved identification list — a custom description can cost more than one drawn from the standard list.

Attorney fees, if you use one

A trademark attorney typically charges either a flat fee for the filing (which can run from a few hundred to well over a thousand dollars depending on complexity and firm) or an hourly rate, plus the government fee on top. Attorneys add the most value on clearance judgment calls and responding to office actions — not on the mechanical act of filling out the TEAS form. See do I need a trademark attorney for when that spend is worth it.

Costs that show up after you file

• Office action responses — if the examining attorney raises an issue, responding (especially with legal help) has its own cost in time or fees.
• A Statement of Use fee, if you filed on an intent-to-use (1(b)) basis and need to convert once you launch.
• Opposition proceedings — rare, but if a third party formally opposes your mark during the 30-day publication window, defending it can be the most expensive part of the whole process.
• Maintenance filings — a US registration isn't a one-time purchase. You must file a Declaration of Use (and pay a fee) between the 5th and 6th year, then renew every 10 years, or the registration is cancelled.

The cost of skipping clearance

The single biggest way people overpay for a trademark is by filing without checking first. If the mark gets refused for a likelihood-of-confusion conflict with an existing registration, the government filing fee is generally non-refundable — you've paid to find out the name doesn't work. A free clearance search before filing is the cheapest insurance in the entire process.

How many classes do you actually need?

Filing in more classes than you need inflates the bill without adding protection you'll use. Filing in fewer than you need leaves gaps. The right number is however many classes cover what you actually sell or plan to sell in the near term — not every class you might theoretically enter someday. Our guide to trademark classes explains how to scope this correctly.

A rough total, put together

For a single-class US application filed without an attorney and with no office actions, expect the total to be roughly the government per-class fee. Add an attorney and you're typically looking at that fee plus their flat rate or hourly time. Add a second class, and the government fee is charged again. Add an office action or opposition, and the cost can climb well beyond the original estimate. There's no single number that's honest for every applicant — the range is wide by design.

Monitoring: the ongoing cost people forget

Registration protects the mark you filed, but it doesn't alert you if someone files something confusingly similar next year. Watching new filings in your classes is the only way to catch a conflict inside the opposition window, when it's still cheap to act. See trademark monitoring, explained for how that works and what it costs to keep watch.