How to Trademark a Logo: USPTO Steps and Fees
To trademark a logo in the United States you file an application with the USPTO, naming the goods or services the logo identifies and attaching a drawing of it. The government fee is $350 for each class of goods or services when the application is complete, and the logo itself needs a special-form drawing, a color claim if color is part of the mark, and a written description. Registration is not automatic, and a logo does not need to be registered to be used.
Four choices set the cost and the outcome: which of three drawing types you file, how many classes you cover, whether the goods wording comes from the USPTO's own list, and how many years of maintenance fees follow the first filing. The fee text in the Code of Federal Regulations covers all four. A one-class, use-based logo filing costs $350 up front and $1,325 across ten years of required fees, and a three-class merch brand costs $1,050 up front. Nothing here replaces an attorney, and a filing that matters to a business is worth having one review it.
What a logo trademark actually protects
The USPTO's own explainer defines a trademark as "any word, phrase, symbol, design, or a combination of these things that identifies your goods or services." It then adds a warning people skip: you do not own a word or an image in general, "only how that word or phrase is used with your specific goods or services." Its worked example is a woodworking logo, which "doesn't mean you can stop others from using a similar logo for non-woodworking related goods or services."
So the first mental model is a pair, not a picture: the logo plus the goods or services it is used with. A bakery's wheat-sheaf mark and a software firm's wheat-sheaf mark can coexist, because shoppers are unlikely to think the same company sells both. The more closely related the goods, and the more alike the marks look, sound or mean, the more likely the examining attorney or a competitor will see a conflict.
Two other points from the same page matter for planning.
- Use creates rights before registration. The USPTO says "you become a trademark owner as soon as you start using your trademark with your goods or services", but those rights "are limited, and they only apply to the geographic area in which you're providing your goods or services." Registration is what gives nationwide rights.
- Registration is optional. "You're not required to register your trademark. However, a registered trademark provides broader rights and protections than an unregistered one."
Copyright is the other protection people mean when they say "protect my logo". It protects the artwork against copying and arises automatically; it does not stop a rival from using a different drawing of a similar-looking mark. Our guide to copyright versus trademark for logos draws that line in detail, and the copyright registration guide covers the separate copyright filing.
Who can file, and where designers fit
The application names the owner of the mark, which is normally the business that will use it, not the designer who drew it. We did not read the USPTO's rules on who may file, so if ownership is unclear, for example when a founder drew the logo before the company existed, ask an attorney before filing. If you are a designer, what you can do is deliver the artwork, assign the copyright in the logo if your contract says so, and tell the client the trademark step exists. The work-for-hire and ownership guide shows how to word the transfer so the client holds the artwork before they file.
37 CFR 2.22(a)(19) adds a rule for overseas applicants: "An applicant whose domicile is not located within the United States or its territories must designate an attorney as the applicant's representative." A U.S. applicant can file without a lawyer; a foreign-domiciled one cannot.
Word mark, logo, or both: three drawing types
The USPTO asks for a drawing that tells it exactly what is claimed. Under 37 CFR 2.52 there are two main kinds, and a color claim changes the second.
| Drawing type | What it covers | Use it when | Key rule (37 CFR) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard character | Words, letters or numbers with no claim to any font, size or color | The name is the asset and the lettering may change | 2.52(a): the mark has no design element and no claim to font style, size or color |
| Special form, black and white | A particular design, or words in a particular style, in any color | The logo is the asset and you want it protected whatever color it is printed in | 2.52(b): shown "in black on a white background" |
| Special form, with a color claim | The design in the exact colors you name | Color is a defining feature of the brand | 2.52(b)(1): the drawing must show color and you must "name the color(s), describe where the color(s) appear on the mark, and submit a claim that the color(s) is a feature of the mark" |
Two points on the choice. A standard character filing for the name and a special form filing for the logo are different applications with different fees, because the fee is charged per class of each application. Many small businesses file the name first, since a name is the harder thing to change, and add the logo when the design has settled. A black-and-white special form drawing is the broader choice for a logo; the color claim narrows what you are asking for to that color presentation.
What the application must say about the logo
37 CFR 2.22(a) lists what a base application has to contain to avoid surcharges. For a logo these are the items that matter:
- (10) "If the applicant does not claim standard characters, the applicant must attach a digitized image of the mark. If the mark includes color, the drawing must show the mark in color."
- (12) "If the mark includes color, a statement naming the color(s) and describing where the color(s) appears on the mark, and a claim that the color(s) is a feature of the mark."
- (13) "If the mark is not in standard characters, a description of the mark."
- (14) and (15) An English translation of any non-English wording, and a transliteration of non-Latin characters.
- (16) If the mark includes an individual's name or likeness, the individual's consent or a statement that it does not identify a living person.
A description is a plain sentence of what the image shows, such as "a stylized acorn inside a circle, with the letters OAK below". It should not pitch the brand. Search-indexed excerpts of TMEP section 808 note that a description of a mark filed without a color claim should not mention colors, and that a color claim should list every color in the drawing using ordinary color names. We read those through search excerpts, not the current TMEP pages, so treat the section numbers as a pointer and confirm them on the USPTO's TMEP site before you file.
Designer's drawing checklist
If you are preparing artwork for a client's filing, these choices cause the most corrections:
- Supply the logo as a clean image with no mockup, background, drop shadow or tagline you do not want protected. Whatever is in the image is part of the mark.
- Make one version in black on white for the special-form drawing, and a second in colors only if the client wants a color claim.
- Keep the mark as it is actually used. A specimen showing a logo different from the drawing is a classic cause of an office action.
- Write the description before you submit. If you cannot describe it in one or two sentences, it may be too complicated to protect cleanly.
- If the logo combines a symbol and a name, consider whether the two parts are always used together. If they are used separately, separate filings are the cleaner approach; this is a decision for the owner and their attorney.
Three hypothetical clients, three different drawings
The examples below are invented to show how the drawing rules change the choice. None is a real mark, and none is advice for a real filing.
A coffee roaster with a leaf-and-cup symbol that always appears in green. The owner sells bagged coffee (Class 30) and runs a web shop. Because green is part of how customers recognise the brand, a color claim is plausible, but it ties the registration to green. If the roaster later moves to black for a one-color label, the registered color version may not match the new use. A black-and-white special-form drawing would cover the symbol in either presentation, and the owner can still use green in practice. The designer's job is to explain this trade-off in two sentences and let the owner decide.
A freelance illustrator whose logo is her name in a hand-lettered style. The words are her brand, but the lettering is part of the look. A standard character filing would protect the name in any font and so give broader coverage for the words; a special-form filing would protect the specific lettering. She might file the name in standard characters for her services, and treat the lettered version as a second application if the budget allows.
A game studio with an emblem and no words. There is no text to put in standard characters, so a special-form drawing is the only way to file. The description does most of the work: "a hooded owl in profile holding a lantern, within a hexagon". Because the emblem has no wording, the examining attorney's search will rely on the design's visual features, which makes a clean, simple shape easier to clear than a busy one.
In all three cases the fee at filing is the same $350 per class. What differs is what the registration would stop other people from doing, and that is the question to settle before the money is spent.
Picking classes: where costs multiply
Goods and services are sorted into numbered classes under the Nice Classification, and the USPTO charges its application fee per class. The 13th edition (version 2026) lists the class headings; the ones that come up for designers' clients are below. Wording is quoted from the WIPO list of classes with explanatory notes, version 2026.
| Class | Official heading (shortened) | Typical logo client |
|---|---|---|
| 9 | Scientific, research, navigation... apparatus and instruments (includes software in the explanatory notes) | App or software product |
| 16 | Paper and cardboard; printed matter; stationery | Printed goods, stationery |
| 21 | Household or kitchen utensils and containers; cookware and tableware | Mugs, bottles, kitchenware |
| 25 | Clothing, footwear, headwear | Apparel, merch |
| 35 | Advertising; business management, organization and administration; office functions | Agencies, consultancies, online shops |
| 41 | Education; providing of training; entertainment; sporting and cultural activities | Courses, events, studios |
| 42 | Scientific and technological services and research and design relating thereto... design and development of computer hardware and software | Software-as-a-service, technical design |
A logo that appears on T-shirts (Class 25), mugs (Class 21) and a web shop (Class 35) is three classes and, at $350 each, $1,050 before anything else. Cost drives a sensible rule: file first in the class where the logo is used today and where a copycat would hurt most. You can add classes later through new applications as the business grows, and the owner's attorney can advise on strategy.
The identification itself, the sentence that says what goods or services the mark covers, is where the USPTO adds optional surcharges. 37 CFR 2.22 and 2.6(a)(1) set them out:
- A complete application that picks its wording from the USPTO's Trademark ID Manual pays only the base fee.
- If it fails the basic-information requirements in 2.22(a)(1) to (19), it pays an additional $100 per class.
- If it uses free-form text instead of the ID Manual, it pays an additional $200 per class.
- If the free-form identification exceeds 1,000 characters, it pays a further $200 per class for each additional 1,000 characters.
The easy saving is therefore to select standard ID Manual entries. A custom description can be the right choice for an unusual product, but it is a $200 decision per class and should be made on purpose.
What the process looks like, step by step
The USPTO's "trademark process" page, updated August 11, 2026, lays out the stages. The version below keeps the details that affect timing and money.
- Search first. The examining attorney will search the USPTO database for conflicting marks, so you should look before you pay. A search on the logo's wording and a search by design features both matter. Start with the USPTO's own trademark search tools and treat a clean result as a filter, not a guarantee, because unregistered users also hold rights.
- Choose a filing basis. For a logo you already use on goods or services, you file on use in commerce and provide a specimen showing the mark as used. For one you intend to use, you file on a bona fide intent to use. The intent route adds later steps and fees, covered below.
- File in Trademark Center. The USPTO says you need a USPTO.gov account with two-step authentication. The base fee is paid per class at filing.
- Wait for examination. After the filing requirements are met, "an application serial number is assigned and the application is forwarded to an examining attorney. This may take a number of months." The USPTO's data page, updated October 22, 2026, gives a target of 5 months from filing to first action for the current fiscal year, with a long-term goal of 4.0 months, and a total-pendency target of 11 months or less for use-based applications. Those are targets, not promises.
- Respond to any office action. "You (or your attorney, if you have one) must respond within three months of the issue date of the office action, or the application will be declared abandoned." An optional three-month extension costs $125 when filed electronically (37 CFR 2.6(a)(28)).
- Publication and opposition. If the examiner approves it, the mark is published in the Official Gazette. Anyone who believes they would be harmed has 30 days from publication to oppose or ask for more time to oppose.
- Registration or notice of allowance. A use-based application that survives publication proceeds to registration. An intent-to-use application receives a notice of allowance about eight weeks after publication, after which you have six months to file a statement of use or an extension.
The intent-to-use path in money terms
If the logo is not yet in use, the base fee does not change but later steps add cost. Under 37 CFR 2.6: a statement of use is $150 per class; each six-month extension to file it is $125 per class; and an amendment to allege use is also $150 per class. The notice of allowance gives six months, and the USPTO notes you can file more than one extension but there is a limit on their number and timing. If you miss the deadline the application is abandoned, and reviving it takes a petition and a fee.
The fee table, with its sources
All figures are USD per class unless marked, read from 37 CFR 2.6 on October 23, 2026 (the eCFR text cites the November 18, 2024 amendment at 89 FR 91089 as the most recent change to this section) and checked against the USPTO's "Summary of 2025 trademark fee changes" page, last updated August 4, 2025. The fee changes took effect January 18, 2025.
| Item | Fee | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Base application, filed electronically | $350 | 2.6(a)(1)(iii) |
| Application on paper | $850 | 2.6(a)(1)(i) |
| Surcharge: insufficient information | $100 | 2.6(a)(1)(iv), 2.22(b) |
| Surcharge: free-form text instead of ID Manual | $200 | 2.6(a)(1)(v), 2.22(c) |
| Surcharge: each extra 1,000 characters in free-form text | $200 | 2.6(a)(1)(vi), 2.22(d) |
| Extension of time to respond to an office action (electronic) | $125 | 2.6(a)(28) |
| Statement of use (electronic) | $150 | 2.6(a)(3) |
| Amendment to allege use (electronic) | $150 | 2.6(a)(2) |
| Extension of time to file a statement of use (electronic, six months) | $125 | 2.6(a)(4) |
| Section 8 declaration (electronic) | $325 | 2.6(a)(12) |
| Section 9 renewal (electronic) | $325 | 2.6(a)(5) |
| Section 15 declaration of incontestability (electronic) | $250 | 2.6(a)(13) |
| Letter of protest (per application) | $150 | 2.6(a)(25) |
Six filings, priced
The table totals government fees only. It uses the figures above and assumes electronic filing, no office action extension unless stated, and no attorney, search service or design work. Each line is arithmetic you can reproduce.
| Scenario | Inputs | Government fees at filing | Fees through year 10 |
|---|---|---|---|
| A. Single logo, one class, use-based, ID Manual wording | 1 class | $350 | $350 + $325 (Section 8, years 5 to 6) + $325 (Section 8) + $325 (Section 9) at years 9 to 10 = $1,325 |
| B. Same, plus optional incontestability | A + Section 15 | $350 | $1,325 + $250 = $1,575 |
| C. Merch brand, three classes (21, 25, 35), use-based | 3 classes | $1,050 | 3 x $1,325 = $3,975 |
| D. Same as C, one class with custom wording | C + 1 free-form | $1,250 | $1,250 + 3 x $975 maintenance = $4,175 |
| E. Intent-to-use, two classes, filed, SOU in time | 2 x ($350 + $150) | $700, then $300 at SOU | $1,000 + 2 x $975 maintenance = $2,950 |
| F. As E, with one extension for both classes | E + 2 x $125 | $700, then $550 later | $1,250 + 2 x $975 = $3,200 |
Reading the table: a one-class, use-based logo filing is about $350 up front and about $1,325 across ten years of required USPTO fees. The price multiplies by classes more than by anything else, and the ten-year total is nearly four times the filing fee because maintenance fees are per class too. If an attorney handles the filing, their fee is additional and varies by firm; we do not publish a typical figure because we found no neutral source for one.
eCFR and USPTO pages behind the fees
Fee figures checked on October 23, 2026.
- 37 CFR 2.6 (trademark fees), eCFR current text: ecfr.gov, title 37, part 2, section 2.6, last amended 89 FR 91089, November 18, 2024.
- 37 CFR 2.22 (base application) and 2.52 (types of drawings), from the Legal Information Institute copy of the eCFR.
- USPTO, Summary of 2025 trademark fee changes, last updated August 4, 2025.
- USPTO, Trademark process, last updated August 11, 2026.
- USPTO, What is a trademark?, last updated November 30, 2023.
- USPTO, Keeping your registration alive, maintenance deadlines and grace periods.
- USPTO, Trademarks data visualization center, pendency targets, last updated October 22, 2026.
- USPTO, Trademarks: protect yourself from scams, last updated April 29, 2026.
- WIPO, Nice Classification, 13th edition, version 2026, list of classes with explanatory notes.
- Outside what we checked: the current TMEP wording on mark descriptions and color claims (we saw only search-indexed excerpts), attorney or search fees, and any figure for how often applications are refused.
- Federal U.S. practice only; state registrations and other countries' systems differ, and this is not legal advice.
Keeping the registration: dates to calendar
The USPTO's maintenance page lists the deadlines for registrations not based on the Madrid Protocol:
- Between the fifth and sixth years after registration: a Declaration of Use (or Excusable Nonuse) under Section 8.
- Between the ninth and tenth years: the first Section 8 declaration together with a Section 9 renewal application.
- Every ten years after that (years 19 to 20, 29 to 30, and so on): the same pair again.
There is "a six-month grace period after each of the above deadlines", with an additional fee, and a registration that is not renewed within it "will be canceled or deemed expired." The page also advises filing at the start of the year in which the deadline falls, so there is time to fix a correctable error. Missing a date does not make the logo yours any less in practice, but it ends the registration and the application process starts again.
After the filing receipt arrives
Keep the logo's colors and wording consistent with what you filed, and record the filing date and the three-month response window in a calendar. If you also design for the brand, put the approved logo files, clear-space rules and color values into a brand style guide so the version in the drawing stays the version in use.
Questions people ask before filing a logo
How much does it cost to trademark a logo?
The USPTO base application fee is $350 per class when the application is filed electronically and complete. Surcharges of $100 or $200 per class apply for missing information or free-form wording. Maintenance adds $325 for the Section 8 declaration and $325 for renewal per class at the ten-year mark, as the fee table shows. Attorney or search costs come on top.
Do I need a lawyer to trademark a logo?
A U.S.-domiciled applicant can file without one. An applicant whose domicile is outside the United States must designate a U.S. attorney (37 CFR 2.22(a)(19)). A lawyer is most useful for choosing classes and answering a substantive refusal.
How long does it take?
The USPTO's current-year targets are 5 months to a first action and 11 months or less in total for use-based applications that were not suspended or contested; actual times vary. Intent-to-use applications take longer because the statement of use comes after allowance.
Can I trademark a logo I made with Canva or a stock icon?
Only if you have the right to use the artwork as a brand identifier and it is distinctive. Many templates and stock elements are licensed on terms that bar using them as a logo or trademark, so read the licence first. Our Canva licence guide and free fonts for logos guide cover two common sources.
Should I register the name, the logo, or both?
The name in standard characters protects the words in any lettering. The logo in a special-form drawing protects the design. Which matters more depends on what customers recognize and what you might change. Filing both costs two applications.
Does registering the logo stop others from using similar images?
It gives you stronger and nationwide rights for the identified goods and services, but infringement turns on likelihood of confusion, not on identical images. The USPTO itself says a logo in woodworking does not stop use of a similar logo for unrelated goods.
What if my logo includes a photo of a person?
37 CFR 2.22(a)(16) requires the individual's written consent where the mark includes a living person's name or likeness.
The mistakes that cost the most
- Registering the wrong thing. Filing the name in standard characters when the logo is the asset, or the reverse. The drawing decides the scope.
- Claiming color casually. A color claim narrows the registration to those colors. If the brand will change color, file black and white.
- Choosing one class because it is cheapest, then using the mark elsewhere. Registration covers the identified goods and services only.
- Ignoring the three-month response deadline. An unanswered office action means abandonment, and the USPTO says it is your responsibility to monitor the status.
- Paying for look-alike official mail. The USPTO has a page on fraudulent solicitations, updated April 29, 2026, describing a rise in "fraudulent solicitations from so-called IP 'experts'" offering services to owners of applications. Check your application status in Trademark Center before paying anyone who contacts you.
- Treating a clean search as a green light. The USPTO database shows registered and pending marks, not every business using a similar logo.