Fee Reductions & Payment Methods

There is no small-entity discount for trademarks

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office funds trademarks entirely through user fees, and the per-class rate is the same for every applicant. The small-entity and micro-entity reductions that apply to patent fees do not exist for trademarks, so do not expect a lower bill for being an individual, a startup, or a nonprofit.

Save by using the pre-approved ID Manual

The single biggest cost lever is how you identify your goods and services. The USPTO maintains the Trademark ID Manual of pre-approved descriptions. Selecting from it keeps your base fee at $350 per class. Writing your own free-form wording triggers a $200-per-class surcharge, and a description that is too thin or too long adds more.

• Base electronic filing fee: $350 per class (paper filing is $850 per class, so electronic is effectively mandatory).
• Custom free-form description instead of an ID Manual entry: +$200 per class.
• Description over 1,000 characters: an additional +$200 per class for each extra 1,000-character block.
• Insufficient information about the goods or services: +$100 per class.

Payment methods USPTO accepts

All trademark fees are paid through the USPTO Trademark Center, which is the single electronic filing and payment portal as of January 2025. The accepted methods are:

• Credit or debit card — American Express, Discover, MasterCard, and Visa. The per-transaction card limit is $24,999.99; amounts above that require another method.
• Electronic funds transfer (EFT) from a U.S. bank account — no per-day limit, but a newly added EFT must pass an 8-business-day authentication period before it can be used.
• USPTO deposit account — a pre-funded account (minimum monthly balance $1,000) that lets you pre-authorize charges, which can preserve your filing date if a fee calculation comes up short.
• A pre-authorized deposit account is especially useful for practitioners and serial filers who want one payment instrument for every document.

Are trademark fees lower for small or micro entities?

No. Trademark fees are flat per class for every applicant. The small-entity and micro-entity discounts are a patent concept and do not apply to trademark filings.

What is the cheapest way to file a trademark application?

File electronically through Trademark Center and choose your goods and services wording from the pre-approved Trademark ID Manual. That keeps each class at the $350 base fee and avoids the $200 custom-description surcharge.

Can I still pay USPTO trademark fees by paper check?

No. Paper check disbursements were eliminated on September 29, 2025. Use a credit or debit card, an EFT from a U.S. bank account, or a USPTO deposit account.

• USPTO fee schedule
• 37 CFR Part 2 — Trademark fees and payment rules
• USPTO deposit accounts