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The Zest

What a Trademark Attorney Costs, and Why Nobody Can Give You One Number

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There isn't one going rate, and I'm not going to invent one. What you pay a trademark attorney depends on how the lawyer prices the work (flat fee or hourly), how many classes of goods and services you're covering, and whether the USPTO or another business pushes back along the way. The attorney's fee is also a separate charge from the government filing fees, which are fixed and published.

I know that's less satisfying than a dollar range. Here's why I'm answering it this way, and how to get a real number for your own situation.

Two bills, not one

Every trademark filing involves two different kinds of cost.

The first is what the USPTO charges. Those fees are set by federal regulation, they're charged per class, and they're the same for everyone. Hiring a lawyer doesn't raise or lower them. I laid them out in What a Trademark Actually Costs in 2026, so I won't repeat the table here.

The second is what the attorney charges for the legal work. That number isn't set by anyone. It varies by lawyer, by city, by firm size and by what's included.

When you compare quotes, the first thing to pin down is whether a price includes the USPTO fees or sits on top of them. Two quotes that look far apart can turn out to be close once you put the government fees on the same side of the line. The USPTO gives the same advice about filing companies: their service fees are separate from USPTO fees, and it suggests confirming the USPTO amounts yourself.

Why I'm not quoting market averages

A well-known source for what US intellectual property lawyers charge is the Report of the Economic Survey published by the American Intellectual Property Law Association. It includes typical charges for trademark tasks. It's also a members-only publication that's sold rather than posted publicly, so I can't point you to a page where you could check a figure for yourself.

I haven't found a free, public source for market averages that I'd put my name behind. I'd rather explain what moves the price than repeat a range I can't source.

How trademark lawyers price the work

Most of what you'll see falls into two structures.

Flat fees are common for the predictable parts: a search with a written opinion, preparing and filing an application, a maintenance filing years later. You know the price before the work starts. What you need to read closely is the scope. A flat application fee may or may not include the search, may cover one class or several, and may or may not include responding if the USPTO raises an issue.

Hourly billing is more common where the amount of work can't be known in advance, such as a contested refusal, a dispute with another brand owner, or a proceeding before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board. Some lawyers bill everything hourly, including applications.

Many use both: a flat fee through filing, then either a second flat fee or hourly rates if something comes up.

Whatever the structure, lawyers have professional obligations about fees. The ABA's Model Rule 1.5, which most states have adopted in some form, bars unreasonable fees and says the scope of the work and the basis or rate of the fee should be communicated to the client, preferably in writing, before or soon after the work begins. Asking for the fee in writing isn't awkward. It's what the rules expect.

What moves the total

A handful of things account for most of the difference between a small bill and a large one.

The number of classes. USPTO fees multiply by class, and attorney fees often rise with each class too, because each one needs its own description and its own proof of use.

The search. A quick check for identical names is a different product from a full search with a legal opinion on the risk. I explained what a search is for in Why Most Refused Trademark Applications Never Stood a Chance. Whether one is included is often the biggest gap between two quotes.

The filing basis. If you file before you've started selling, there are later filings to show use, and sometimes extensions. Each has its own USPTO fee, and a lawyer may charge for preparing it.

Office actions. If the examining attorney raises an issue, someone has to respond. A small fix to the wording of your goods takes little time. A refusal based on a conflict with another registration or on descriptiveness can take a written legal argument with evidence. An Office Action Isn't a No. It's a Three-Month Clock. covers what those involve.

Disputes. If another company opposes your application, or you need to oppose theirs, that's a proceeding before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board, which works much like a court. It's a different scale of work from an application, and it's usually priced that way. More on that process is in the article on oppositions and letters of protest.

How many marks. A name and a logo are separate applications. So are two product names.

Questions that get you a real number

You can ask any lawyer these before you commit, and the answers will tell you more than an average would.

  • Is the fee flat or hourly, and what exactly does it cover?
  • Are USPTO fees included or added on top?
  • Is a search included, and do I get a written opinion?
  • How many classes does the price cover, and what does each added class cost?
  • If there's an office action, what happens to the price?
  • If I'm filing before launch, what will the later filings cost?
  • Who does the work, and who do I talk to?

Where a lawyer's fee sits against the alternatives

If you're based in the US, you aren't required to hire anyone. You can file on your own and pay only the USPTO fees. Online filing services charge a service fee on top of those fees, and the USPTO notes that filing companies are not the same as law firms. A lawyer's fee is often the highest of the three up front.

The USPTO's own page on the question puts both sides in two sentences: hiring an attorney means your total cost is higher because of the attorney's fees, and an attorney may save you money. Neither half is a promise. Which one describes your situation depends on your name, how crowded your field is, and what it would cost you to start over with a new name.

If you'd like to see how one practice lays out its scope in writing, you can see how the search and filing packages work on the services page, and the FAQs page answers most of what comes up before a first call.

Book a free 15-minute discovery call with the attorney (opens in a new tab)

(No legal advice is given on the discovery call. It's a chance to tell me what you're building and hear how the process works.)

Sources

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

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