Most articles about trademark costs stop at the USPTO filing fee. But the real cost of trademarking a business name or logo includes more than the initial application: attorney fees if you use professional help, potential Office Action response costs, maintenance filings over the lifetime of the registration, and the cost of not protecting a mark when you should have. Understanding the full picture helps you make a smarter decision about when and how to invest in trademark protection.
This guide covers trademark costs and trademark filing fees in 2026 from the initial application through the long-term ownership of a registered mark.
All trademark applications are filed through the USPTO’s Trademark Electronic Application System. Two main application types apply to most businesses. TEAS Plus costs $250 per class of goods or services and requires selecting descriptions from the USPTO’s pre-approved list. TEAS Standard costs $350 per class and allows custom descriptions when your goods or services do not fit pre-approved options. Most straightforward business name and logo applications use TEAS Plus.
The USPTO organizes every type of product or service into 45 categories called classes. Your filing fee is charged per class, not per trademark. A restaurant filing for food services pays $250 for Class 43. The same restaurant that also sells branded merchandise pays $250 for Class 43 plus $250 for Class 25 (clothing), totaling $500. Identifying the right classes before filing prevents underfiling, which leaves users unprotected, and overfiling, which wastes money on classes that do not apply.
Trademark attorneys typically charge a flat fee to prepare and file a straightforward application, plus the government filing fee. For a single-class TEAS Plus application, total costs with attorney assistance typically run $750 to $1,500. More complex applications involving multiple classes, goods, or services descriptions that require careful drafting, or logo marks that need precise written descriptions may run $1,000 to $2,500 or more before government fees.
Services like LegalZoom, Trademark Engine, and similar platforms offer trademark filing assistance at lower costs than traditional attorneys, typically $150 to $400 in service fees plus government fees. These services work well for simple, straightforward applications but offer limited support if the application encounters Office Actions or substantive examination issues. For complex applications or marks in contested categories, attorney assistance tends to produce better outcomes.
| Scenario | USPTO Fee | Professional Fee | Estimated Total |
| DIY single class TEAS Plus | $250 | $0 | $250 (higher risk of errors) |
| Online service single class | $250 | $150 to $400 | $400 to $650 |
| Attorney single class TEAS Plus | $250 | $500 to $1,000 | $750 to $1,250 |
| Attorney two classes TEAS Plus | $500 | $700 to $1,500 | $1,200 to $2,000 |
| Attorney three classes TEAS Plus | $750 | $900 to $2,000 | $1,650 to $2,750 |
| Application plus Office Action response | Filing fees above | $500 to $2,000 additional | Add $500 to $2,000 |
An Office Action is a letter from the USPTO examiner raising issues with your application that must be resolved before registration can proceed. They are common and not necessarily a sign of a serious problem, but responding to them correctly requires either your own expertise or an attorney’s time. Office Action responses from an attorney typically cost $500 to $2,000, depending on the complexity of the issues raised. Applications filed without professional help are more likely to generate Office Actions due to errors in the goods and services description or formality issues.
A registered trademark does not last forever without maintenance. Two types of filings are required to keep a registration in force indefinitely.
Over a 20-year period, the required government fees for maintaining a single-class trademark registration, including the initial filing, the year 5 to 6 Section 8 Declaration, and the year 10 and year 20 combined renewals, total approximately $1,525. Adding the optional Section 15 Declaration brings the total to $1,750. For a brand generating meaningful revenue, this is a very reasonable cost for two decades of nationwide exclusive protection.
Federal trademark registration provides nationwide exclusive rights to use the mark in connection with your specific goods or services, a public record that puts others on notice of your claim, access to federal court for enforcement, the right to use the registered trademark symbol, access to US Customs recordation for import protection, and eligibility for Amazon Brand Registry and similar platform brand protection programs.
The practical cost of not having trademark protection becomes visible when a conflict arises. A forced rebrand, including redesigning a logo, updating all brand materials, changing domain names, notifying customers, and rebuilding recognition under a new name, routinely costs tens of thousands of dollars and represents far more lost value than the original trademark registration would have cost. For any business that has invested in building brand recognition, registration is one of the more straightforward risk-management investments available.
Trademark filing fees in 2026 start at $250 per class for a TEAS Plus application. With professional assistance, most single-class applications total $750 to $1,500. Multi-class applications, Office Actions, and long-term maintenance costs add to the total over time. None of these numbers is large relative to the commercial value of a protected brand.
The calculation is simple: the cost of registering is predictable and modest. The cost of a conflict without registration is unpredictable and potentially much larger. For businesses serious about the names and marks they have built, trademark registration is worth doing sooner rather than later.
Trademark Clutch helps businesses file trademark applications correctly and efficiently from the initial search through registration and beyond. If you want to understand what protecting your specific mark would cost and involve, reach out to us.
USPTO filing fees are $250 per class for TEAS Plus and $350 for TEAS Standard. With attorney assistance, single-class applications typically total $750 to $1,500. Ongoing maintenance costs approximately $775 per class every 10 years for required government filings.
Trademark filing fees are charged per class of goods or services. There are 45 USPTO trademark classes. A business filing in one class pays $250. Filing in three classes pays $750. Selecting only the classes that genuinely apply keeps costs proportionate.
TEAS Plus costs $250 per class and requires selecting goods or services descriptions from the USPTO’s pre-approved list. TEAS Standard costs $350 per class and allows custom descriptions when pre-approved options do not fit your specific goods or services.
A Section 8 Declaration costs $225 per class in years 5 to 6. Combined Section 8 and 9 renewals cost $550 per class every 10 years. An optional Section 15 Declaration costs $225 per class after 5 continuous years of use. Total government maintenance fees over 20 years run approximately $1,525 per class for required filings.
An Office Action is a letter from the USPTO examiner identifying issues that must be resolved before registration can proceed. You typically have 3 months to respond, with one 3-month extension available. Attorney fees for responding typically run $500 to $2,000, depending on the complexity of the issues raised.
