How much does it cost to register a trademark in the United States?

The cost to file a trademark application with the United States Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO) for one class of goods or service is approximately $1050 ($350 of that is the USPTO fee for a single class of goods or services). The rough cost for a United States trade-mark application through registration for a single class of goods or services is about $1,800. These numbers are rough estimates and do not include the cost for a trademark clearance search or a comprehensive trademark search. This estimate includes government fees and also assumes that the application is straight forward, unopposed, with minimal objections and without extension of time requests. In the United States, it is taking about 14-16 months to obtain a registration for a straight forward application. For each additional class of goods or services you add, you can estimate approximately $500 in additional expenses. Sometimes the overall cost of $1,800 is less (closer to $1,600), and at times it can cost more. For example, if your application encounters a more complex objection, such as a likelihood of confusion refusal, or a refusal based on the mark being deemed descriptive of the goods or services, the cost to obtain registration, if registration is possible under such circumstances, could be considerably more due to the effort required to overcome the objection. Also, these estimates assume no opposition by a third party during the trademark publication period. Finally, it is worth noting, at the time you receive the more substantive rejection from the United States Patent & Trademark Office, you can decide whether you want to proceed or not. In other words, we can provide a cost estimate for proceeding and you can then decide whether to continue pursuit of registration of the mark.

If you are interested in seeking registration of a trademark, or if you would like a cost estimate for registration of a specific trademark, please give us a call at (503) 439-6500 or email us at tm@bltg-ip.com.   Ted D. Karr, Partner of Berkeley Law & Technology Group, LLP