Legally, it doesn't have to cost anything to trademark a company name. You are not required to register your trademark with the federal government for your mark to have legal standing. There are distinct advantages, however, to registering a trademark, including the right to file suit in federal court against someone infringing on your mark. If you do apply to register your mark, the cost can vary widely, depending on the process you follow and whether there's any opposition to your trademark claim.
No Fee for Initial Search
Before you file a trademark application, or even if you don't intend to register your trademark, you can conduct a free search of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's Trademark Electronic Search System database. Through character matches and numerical codes representing numerous graphic elements, you can search for existing trademarked names and logos that would conflict with yours, and save yourself money if you find a conflict and need to adjust your own company name. Your search, however, is no guarantee that a more thorough search conducted later by an examining attorney will not discover a conflict. A trademark doesn't have to be an exact match to be in conflict with your mark, and the Trademark Office's database only covers federally registered marks. State trademarks and unregistered trademarks in commercial use are also reviewed before a registration is granted.
Fee Basis
A trademark identifies the source of a class of goods or services. When applying for a trademark, you need to specify each class or line of goods or services covered by the mark. The Trademark Office levies a base fee for each class of goods or services included in the application. The base application fee could exceed $1,000 if it includes four or more classes of goods.
Electronic Application Fess
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office is encouraging trademark applicants to use its Trademark Electronic Application System (TEAS), and gives reduced fees for electronic filing. The lowest rate occurs with TEAS Plus. Fees as of 2011 are $275 per class of goods or services for a TEAS Plus application, though this version includes additional requirements. You must be able to select an entry or entries from the codes listed in USPTO's manual of "Acceptable Identification of Goods and Services" that fits your line of products and services. Also, all communication with the USPTO must be through email. Otherwise, the standard TEAS application is $325 per class. Paper filings are $375 per class.
Basis for Filing
An application for a trademark registration must include your "basis" for the filing. The basis can be your existing use of the trademark in commerce to identify the source of goods and services you offer, or your "intent to use" the trademark in commerce at a future date. An "intent to use" basis requires you file an additional form, a Statement of Use, and pay a $100 fee per class of goods after the Trademark Office has accepted your mark for publication in the USPTO's "Official Gazette" and received no public opposition to your registration. The statement includes evidence that you have begun using the trademark in commerce.
Other Fees
If the Trademark Office's examining attorney issues an office action letter refusing registration, you have six months from the date of the letter to respond. Your fees will not be refunded. Any corrections or amendments you make to your application as a result can incur additional fees. If an objection is filed on your mark after its publication, your case enters a legal hearing before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board. If you haven't hired a trademark attorney before this point, now's the time to do it.
