Schedule of trademark charges, explained in words Schedule TCG, general part

Trademark Cost Guide Filing, service and upkeep charges

Schedule of charges for a US trademark

What a trademark costs to register, and what it costs to keep

Government fees, service fees and the filings that follow, set out as a schedule

A trademark bill is assembled from a short list of charges: the USPTO filing fee for each class, any surcharges the application triggers, the fee of whoever prepares it, and the maintenance filings that come due years after the certificate arrives. This site explains each line in plain words so the total stops being a surprise.

Read the government fees See what comes due later
  1. Base application Per class of goods or services
  2. Description written freely Surcharge, per class
  3. Information left out at filing Surcharge, per class
  4. Statement of use Per class, intent-to-use only
  5. Filing service Set by each service
  6. Trademark attorney Flat fee or by the hour
  7. Keeping the registration alive Per class, on a fixed calendar
  • Choosing between TEAS Plus and TEAS Standard Two tiers One base fee
  • Filing the application on paper Paper form Online only

Struck lines are how the USPTO used to charge. Since January 2025 there is a single base application, and applications are filed online.

Part A

Government fees, paid to the USPTO

These are the same whoever files. Almost all of them are charged per class, which is why two applications for one name can cost very different amounts.

  1. A.1 Filing

    The base application fee

    Charged once for every class the application covers, so a mark used on clothing and on a website pays twice. The class count is the single biggest lever on the government bill.

  2. A.2 Surcharge

    Free-form descriptions of goods and services

    Added per class when the description is typed in your own words instead of picked from the USPTO's ID Manual, with a further surcharge where a long description runs past the allowed length.

  3. A.3 Surcharge

    Insufficient information

    Added per class when an application is filed without information the USPTO needs to examine it, such as a complete owner description or a specimen showing the mark in use.

  4. A.4 Intent to use

    Statement of use and extensions

    An application filed before the mark is in use pays again, per class, to prove use once it starts, and pays per class for each extension of time it asks for along the way.

  5. A.5 Disputes

    Appeals, oppositions and petitions

    Charged only when something goes wrong: appealing a refusal, opposing someone else's mark, or asking the USPTO to revive an application that lapsed.

Part B

Service and attorney fees

What you pay someone else to search, prepare, file and answer for you. This is the part of the bill that varies most between providers.

  1. B.1 Search

    Clearance searching

    A check for existing marks before filing. Some services fold a basic search into a package; a full search with an attorney's opinion is usually sold separately.

  2. B.2 Service

    Online filing services

    Companies that prepare and submit the application for you. Their charge sits on top of the USPTO fee, which is passed through, and packages differ on what is included.

  3. B.3 Attorney

    Attorney filing

    A trademark lawyer drafts and files the application, typically for a flat fee per mark or class. Applicants domiciled outside the United States must use a US-licensed attorney.

  4. B.4 Response

    Office action responses

    When an examining attorney raises a problem, answering it rarely carries a government fee but often carries a professional one, which is why it is the charge people forget to budget for.

  5. B.5 Monitoring

    Watch services

    An optional ongoing charge for being told when someone files a mark close to yours. Nothing in the registration process requires it.

Part C

After registration: the filings that keep it alive

A registration is not paid for once. These filings fall due on a calendar that starts on the registration date, and missing one ends the registration.

  1. C.1 Due

    Section 8 declaration of use

    Filed per class between the fifth and sixth anniversaries of registration to show the mark is still in use. Missing it cancels the registration.

  2. C.2 Optional

    Section 15 declaration of incontestability

    Available once the mark has been in continuous use for five years after registration. It strengthens the registration rather than keeping it alive, so the fee is a choice.

  3. C.3 Due

    Renewal under Sections 8 and 9

    Filed together, per class, every ten years. The government fee for the combined filing is the recurring cost of owning a registration.

  4. C.4 Late

    Grace period surcharge

    A short grace period follows each deadline, and filing inside it costs a further surcharge per class on top of the ordinary fee.

Part D

The order the charges arrive in

Read in sequence, the schedule is also a plan: each step either sets a later charge or avoids one.

  1. Search before paying anything

    A conflicting mark found now costs nothing; one found by the examiner costs the filing fee already spent.

  2. Settle the classes

    The number of classes decides most of the government bill, so this is where the cost is really set.

  3. Choose who files

    Yourself, a filing service or an attorney. The USPTO fee is the same either way; the service charge is what differs.

  4. Answer anything the examiner raises

    Office actions are where an inexpensive filing turns into an expensive one.

  5. Prove use if you filed on intent

    A statement of use, with its own per-class fee, before the registration can issue.

  6. Diary the maintenance filings

    The Section 8 window and the ten-year renewal are what a registration costs to keep.

Notes to the schedule

The terms every explanation here is written under

  1. No amounts on this schedule

    Every charge above is described in words. Where an article quotes a fee, it names the USPTO page it was read from and the date it was checked.

  2. The USPTO sets its own fees

    Government fees change by rulemaking. The current schedule on the USPTO's own site is the one that applies on the day you file.

  3. Not legal advice

    Explaining what a filing costs is not advice on whether to file, what to claim or how to answer a refusal. A trademark attorney can do that.

  4. Nothing is scored

    Where one way of filing suits a business better than another, the reason is given in words. Commission never decides that, and pages that carry an affiliate link say so.