How much does a federal trademark application cost?

Trademark cost questions are almost always framed as a single number, but a federal application has several separate cost components, and some of them only apply in certain situations. Understanding each piece helps you evaluate any quote, including the firm’s own, and avoid an unpleasant surprise mid-process.

The government fee

The USPTO charges a filing fee directly to the applicant, separate from any attorney fee. As of this writing, the base fee is $350 per class for applications filed under Section 1 (use-based or intent-to-use) or Section 44 (based on a foreign registration or application). This fee is paid per class of goods or services, not per application, and is generally nonrefundable even if the mark is later refused.

The USPTO retired its lower-cost TEAS Plus and TEAS Standard filing options on January 18, 2025, moving to a single base fee structure with the following per-class surcharges:

• +$100 per class if the application does not include sufficient information at filing (for example, an incomplete owner or basis information the USPTO now requires up front).
• +$200 per class for using a "free-form" identification of goods and services rather than selecting pre-approved wording from the USPTO’s Trademark ID Manual.
• +$200 per class for every additional 1,000 characters beyond the first 1,000 in the identification of goods and services.

Attorney fees

An attorney fee covers the professional work of evaluating the mark, identifying the correct owner and filing basis, drafting the goods-and-services description, reviewing any specimen, and preparing and filing the application. Attorney fees vary widely across the market, from document-preparation-style services with limited attorney involvement, to flat-fee boutique practices, to larger firms billing by the hour.

The Branding Iron quotes attorney fees as a flat fee, in writing, before work begins. As of this writing, a Full Filing engagement starts at $695 per mark, per class, in attorney fees, separate from the USPTO’s $350-per-class government fee. The $695 attorney fee includes one response to the first non-final USPTO Office Action, whether the issue is procedural or substantive. Work on a later or final Office Action, appeal, consent agreement, TTAB proceeding, or unusually extensive matter beyond that first response is separately quoted. See current flat-fee pricing for the full breakdown. Prices and USPTO fees were last reviewed in July 2026.

Search fees

A clearance search assesses whether a proposed name carries meaningful conflict risk before you invest in filing, packaging, marketing, or a domain. Search fees vary depending on scope, a basic USPTO-database screening search costs less than a comprehensive search covering common-law and marketplace use, state registrations, and similar marks in adjacent classes. As of this writing, the firm’s Clearance Search starts at $295 per proposed mark, per class. If you retain the firm for a Full Filing within 30 days after the search assessment, the full search fee will be credited toward the filing attorney fee. Prices and USPTO fees were last reviewed in July 2026.

Additional-class costs

If a mark is used on goods or services that fall into more than one trademark class, each class requires its own $350 USPTO fee and, typically, its own attorney fee, because the goods-and-services description and supporting evidence must be prepared and reviewed separately for each class. A mark covering two classes, for example, ordinarily involves two USPTO filing fees and two attorney fees rather than one of each.

Intent-to-use expenses

If an application is filed based on a bona fide intent to use the mark rather than actual current use, two additional costs can apply later in the process:

• Statement of Use (SOU): a separate USPTO fee and filing once the mark is actually in use, required before the intent-to-use application can register.
• Extension requests: if the mark is not yet in use when the Statement of Use is due, the applicant may request up to five additional six-month extensions, each carrying its own USPTO fee.

Office Action expenses

Not every application receives an Office Action, but many do. If the USPTO issues a substantive refusal or a procedural requirement, responding typically requires additional attorney time beyond what a basic filing engagement includes, unless the engagement was scoped to cover it. The Branding Iron’s Full Filing engagement includes one response to the first non-final USPTO Office Action, whether the issue is procedural or substantive; work on a later or final Office Action, appeal, consent agreement, TTAB proceeding, or unusually extensive matter beyond that first response is quoted separately, starting at $595, with the final fee depending on the refusal and the record. Prices and USPTO fees were last reviewed in July 2026. See the Office Action response guide for what typically drives that cost up or down.

Maintenance expenses

After registration, the USPTO requires periodic filings, and fees, to keep a mark in force: a Section 8 declaration of continued use between years five and six, an optional Section 15 declaration of incontestability, and a combined Section 8/9 renewal every ten years. Missing one of these deadlines can result in cancellation of the registration. See renewals and maintenance for the schedule and what each filing requires.

Why low advertised prices may not tell the whole story

A headline price such as "$99 trademark filing" typically reflects only a narrow slice of the total cost, often excluding the USPTO government fee, limiting the service to form preparation rather than substantive legal review, and excluding any Office Action response. When comparing providers, it is worth asking directly: is the government fee included in this number? Does a licensed attorney review the goods-and-services description and any specimen before filing? What happens, and what does it cost, if the USPTO issues a refusal? The answers to those three questions explain most of the price variation you will see across the market.