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The Zest

LegalZoom trademark hidden fees: every add-on, priced

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LegalZoom's Premium Trademark Registration is listed at $899, and the real total is higher: the USPTO fee is added on top, trademark monitoring renews at $249 a year after three months, and most Office Action responses are priced separately. None of that is hidden in the legal sense, because it's all in LegalZoom's footnotes and pricing pages. It's just not in the big number.

Here's every charge I could find on LegalZoom's own pages today, with the source for each. Prices change, so check the current price on their checkout page before you buy.

LegalZoom trademark pricing: the base package

The trademark registration page lists one package, Premium Trademark Registration, at $899 "+ federal fees." It includes:

  • A federal and common law search
  • Legal advice on the odds of success
  • Classes selected by the attorney
  • Attorney filing with the USPTO
  • Attorney review of post-filing alerts
  • A free second search if there's an issue with your first choice
  • A waived LegalZoom fee for a second application if the first is finally refused
  • Responses to "minor procedural office actions"
  • Three months of trademark monitoring
  • A cease and desist letter template

LegalZoom's comparison article calls the $899 a flat fee that covers up to two searches.

Are there any hidden charges with LegalZoom's trademark service?

Here's what sits outside the $899.

1. The USPTO filing fee: $350 per class, minimum. A footnote says the USPTO fee "will be charged before we file your application." That's a government fee, and every filer pays it, including my clients. If your mark covers two classes, it's $700. Three classes, $1,050.

2. USPTO surcharges. Since January 2025 the USPTO has charged extra in some cases: $100 per class if the application is missing required information, $200 per class if the description of goods or services is written free-form instead of picked from the USPTO's list, and another $200 per class for each 1,000 characters past the first 1,000. LegalZoom's FAQ notes "some additional fees may apply" for long or customized descriptions. Whether you pay these depends on how your application is written.

3. Monitoring, after three months: $249 a year. The package includes three months of monitoring, then it "auto-renews at $249/year." A footnote says your card will be automatically charged. You can cancel any time, but you have to remember to.

4. Office Action responses beyond minor procedural ones. The package covers "minor procedural office actions," which LegalZoom defines as things like a disclaimer requirement or amending a mark description, and LZ Legal Services "may choose, at its sole discretion" whether to respond even to those. Everything else is priced separately. LegalZoom's Office Action pricing page lists four tiers:

  • Simple responses: $199
  • Moderate responses, such as an ornamental refusal: $399
  • Complex responses, such as a descriptiveness or surname refusal: $599
  • Likelihood of confusion: $799 for one cited mark, plus $99 for each additional cited mark

That page says prices are "subject to change based on attorney evaluation." LegalZoom's Office Action service page also says it's "Available for Business Advisory Plan Customers Only." That plan is listed at $469 a year, or $259 for six months. I couldn't confirm from LegalZoom's pages whether a registration customer can buy a response without the plan, so ask before you count on it.

5. A Statement of Use, if you filed before you were selling. If you file on an intent-to-use basis, you'll eventually need to prove use, or file extensions while you get there. Each extension has a USPTO fee of $125 per class. One public LZ Legal Services engagement page for a Statement of Use extension on three classes quotes a $350 service fee plus $375 in USPTO fees, and it excludes Office Action responses unless the firm elects to include them. I couldn't find a standard price for this on LegalZoom's main pages, so check the current price on their checkout page.

6. Maintenance, years later. LegalZoom's trademark page notes a $325 USPTO fee per class for the filing due after five years. That's a government fee for every owner, not a LegalZoom add-on, but it belongs in your budget.

What the guarantee and refund actually cover

Two terms come up a lot, so here they are in LegalZoom's words.

The second-application waiver applies only if the USPTO issues a "final refusal," is limited to one per order, and "is for LegalZoom's fees only and does not include government filing fees." You'd pay the USPTO again.

The refund window for attorney-led trademark registration is 30 days from purchase. LegalZoom's guarantee page says "cancellation fees may apply based on the value of the services provided," and refunds end once an attorney consultation is completed. Government filing fees aren't refunded once submitted.

A sample total

Say you're filing one candle brand name in one class, and you pick your description from the USPTO's list:

  • LegalZoom package: $899
  • USPTO fee: $350
  • Monitoring after month three, if you keep it: $249 a year

That's $1,249 to file, and $1,498 by the end of year one with monitoring. If a likelihood of confusion refusal arrives, add $799 or more. If it cites two marks, $898.

How our pricing compares

I'll be straight: we cost more up front. One mark is $2,600 flat, or three payments of $950, plus the same USPTO fee of $350 per class. That covers the search, my written opinion, the federal application and every procedural Office Action. There's no monitoring subscription that renews on its own.

Substantive refusals, the hard ones, are quoted before any work starts. I've filed every application myself, and every one has been approved so far, with zero refusals. If my written opinion rates a mark low risk and the USPTO refuses it, I file a new application at no attorney fee. If your first search comes back high risk, the replacement search is free.

If the name isn't settled yet, the search on its own is $650, and it credits in full if you file with us within 14 days. Every price is laid out in the article on what a trademark attorney costs in 2026, and the USPTO's side is in the article on trademark costs and USPTO fees.

To see which flat-fee package fits your mark, start here.

Questions about your name? Email us at hello@citrus.legal, or book a paid 30-minute consultation (opens in a new tab) for advice on your specific situation.

Sources

This article is general information, not legal advice. Reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship.

When you are ready to own it

One mark. One flat fee. One attorney.

The search, the written opinion, the federal application and procedural Office Actions, for $2,600 or three payments of $950. Nothing is filed until you approve the search. If I call your mark low risk and the USPTO refuses it, I file again at no attorney fee.

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