Cost to Trademark
When it comes to registering a trademark, there are two primary costs which need to be considered. First, there are the USPTO trademark fees, which are predictable and relatively easy to calculate for any application. The other cost to consider is the legal fees, which will vary from one application to the next according to the specifics of the trademark being registered. Cad Crowd's intellectual property lawyers offer qualified services at competitive prices. The fees below are estimates of our costs, and while they are generally reliable please be aware that the actual cost of any application will differ from the following costs depending on the complexity and specifics of the trademark being registered. Please contact us to get a quote for a more accurate estimate. The longer it takes to file an application, the more you can expect it to cost.
USPTO Trademark Fees
See this page for a list of relevant USPTO trademark fees.
Legal Fees
Initial consultation: $100
Trademark Searches: All trademark searches include a review of all the marks found, a summary of the search, and a legal opinion. A trademark search includes:
- U.S Trademark Office Registrations: Includes pending applications as well as expired or canceled applications and registrations. Information on these inactive registrations may provide useful information about an already established use of the mark by a previous applicant who may still be using the unregistered mark.
- U.S State registrations
- Canadian Trademark registrations
- Registrations in countries other than U.S or Canada: It is possible to perform searches for marks registered in other countries. There is an extra cost of approximately $100. Contact us for a quote if you need to do a search in another country.
- Domain names: This search only covers U.S-registered domain names, and only for top-level-domains (ie. .com, .edu, and .org).
- Unregistered marks: While we cannot guarantee exhaustive or definitive searches over unregistered marks, we can check manufacturer's directories, online entries, and other such sources to do a broad search for common law trademarks.
Opinion and Search Fees:
- E-mail, Fax or Telephone Response: $650. Includes search and legal opinion with a full written report sent to you by mail.
- Opinion based on previous search: $250. This option is available for those who have performed their own search or have obtained search results from a company which does not offer a legal opinion. See our Trademark Search page for more information on performing a search.
- Alternate Marks: $150 for each alternate mark which is searched.
- Note: We recommend to clients that they provide a list of alternate marks in the event that their first choice has already been registered (which it often is). This can save time and money of performing multiple complete searches. You may supply any number of alternates, listed in order of preference. You will only be billed for those which end up being searched before one passes.
- Searching Multiple Related Marks: If several related marks are to be searched at once, we can usually offer a reduced search fee for the group. Contact us for a quote for your specific situation.
Application (Federal):
Please be aware that most USPTO trademark fees are charged "per class". Goods and services which fall under multiple classes in the International Classifications of Goods and Services will be charged a separate fee for each class.
- Legal fees: $600 per application
- Paper-filings: $375 per class (there is no reason to file on paper for nearly all applications)
- Electronically filed applications: (See Trademark FAQ for more information on TESS and TEAS reduced fees)
- Basic Filing Fee: $325 per class
- TEAS Reduced Fee (TEAS RF):$275. Most of the applications we file qualify for TEAS RF fees.
- TEAS-Plus: $225 per class
- Note: Please be aware that the TEAS-Plus system takes longer than the standard TEAS system, and can sometimes take much longer for more complicated applications. It is therefore only cost-effective to pursue TEAS-Plus when:
- the client has properly chosen the descriptions of goods/services from the Acceptable Identifications Manual
and
- There are four or fewer items on the list of goods in the application.
- There is an additional processing fee of $50 per class. if the application fails to meet the TEAS-Plus or TEAS RF requirements, or if the applicant causes the TEAS RF or TEAS-Plus status to be lost.
Examination and Response
Expect to wait 6-9 months after filing your application before hearing back from the Trademark Office. At this point you will receive your first "Office Action", ie. an official response by the Examining Attorney. You can expect at least one Office Action, and quite often applicants will receive more. If affidavits, appeals, further documentation, or the like is required then you can expect additional time and USPTO fees. Because of the situational variability, we cannot provide a reliable estimate of the costs associated with Office Actions. Generally, you can expect costs of reporting and responding to the USPTO Office Actions to be between $750 and $1200. Expect significantly more if the USPTO is unsatisfied and responds with another Office Action.
