11. December 2025

Cost of Trademark Registration: Fees, Lawyer's Fees & Funding

If you want to protect a trademark, the costs consist of two components: the official fees (DPMA or EUIPO) and the lawyer’s fee for legally secure preparation and filing.

The good news: We can often significantly reduce these costs for you. For small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), there are special EU funding programs (SME Fund). When these funding pots are open, we support you with the application and can recover up to 75% of the official fees.

Cost Overview: German Trademark vs. EU Trademark (Example Calculation)

In this calculation example, we assume an application in 3 classes (e.g. Nice classes for goods/services) and a successful approval of an EUIPO SME grant.

*All fees plus statutory VAT. | **The funding (SME Fund) is subject to specific periods and budget limits of the EUIPO. There is no legal entitlement. We check the current availability for you before accepting the mandate.

Professional Trademark Protection: What is included in the fee?

Anyone who wants to protect a trademark primarily wants one thing: security. Low-cost providers often simply forward your data. At WSL Patent, the fee includes legal examination and strategic advice.

Our “all-round care” package includes:

• Strategy: Preparation of a professional list of goods and services (this often prevents later objections by the office).
• Identity search: We check whether relevant identical trademarks already exist.
• Safety Plus (cross-check): In addition, we carry out a brief manual cross-check in the similarity range. While this does not replace a complete similarity search (see below), it gives a good overview of relevant older trademarks that would be overlooked in a pure identity search.
• Funding service: We handle the bureaucratic application for the “SME Fund” voucher with the EUIPO, provided that the funding is currently available.
• Handling: Filing of documents, monitoring of registration, transmission of the certificate and inclusion in our deadline management.

Costs for Trademark Registration

In the course of trademark registration, different cost types arise, which you should take into account in your planning. These vary depending on the type of application, the scope of protection and the selected classes. In principle, the costs can be divided into official filing fees, search costs and the costs for legal advice.

Official fees for trademark registration

First of all, the obvious costs arise – the official fees charged by the respective patent and trademark office. As of 2025, these are as follows:

• Filing fees at the DPMA: The basic fee for registering a trademark at the German Patent and Trade Mark Office (DPMA) is currently 300 euros for postal filing. For an electronic application, this fee is reduced to 290 euros. In both cases, the fee covers up to three classes of protection. For each additional class, 100 euros are charged.
• Costs for EU-wide trademark registration: For a Europe-wide application via the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO), the application fees are 850 euros for the first class. The fee increases for each additional class: 50 euros for the second and 150 euros for each additional class from the third onwards.
• International application and costs: If trademark protection is desired beyond the borders of Germany and the EU, an international registration can be useful. For an application via the so-called Madrid System (WIPO), which enables international trademark protection, the fees depend on the selected scope of protection and the countries/regions. As a rule, a national or regional basic trademark (e.g. DE or EU) must first exist.

Costs for the trademark search

The larger part of the costs for a trademark application is the legal advice, which should definitely be used. This includes, in addition to legal-strategic advice, a comprehensive trademark search to check for conflicts with existing trademarks.

Commissioning a specialized lawyer or patent attorney for the trademark search typically costs between 350 and 1,500 euros for a comprehensive search in the German area, depending on the effort and complexity of the search. In our above-mentioned flat-rate package, part of this service (identity search & cursory cross-check) is already included, so that for an additional, more comprehensive search, the costs will tend to be at the lower end of this range. A European or international search is more expensive due to the greater scope of work. A lawyer can perform a thorough analysis and also provide legal assessments, which offers additional security.

The costs for a trademark search should be viewed as an investment in later trademark protection. A thorough search helps to avoid legal conflicts and significantly increases the chances of success of a trademark application. Registering a trademark “blindly” can have considerable legal consequences and is therefore not recommended.

Costs for legal advice during trademark registration

In addition to the trademark search, the drafting of the list of goods and services of the trademark is also carried out by a lawyer. This includes, for example, advice on whether the trademark is eligible for protection at all for the claimed goods or services. So-called absolute grounds for refusal (e.g. a purely descriptive term) may prevent registration.

Comprehensive legal support includes in particular:

• Conducting a comprehensive trademark search in order to identify possible conflicts with existing trademarks.
• Advice on the optimal choice and classification of the trademark in order to ensure the best possible protection.
• Preparation and timely filing of the application with the competent office.
• Monitoring of the entire registration process to ensure that all deadlines are met.
• Trademark monitoring after registration in order to identify imitators. This includes monitoring new trademark applications by third parties that could infringe your own trademark as well as initiating appropriate steps, such as opposition proceedings or warning letters, to enforce trademark rights.

The formal costs for trademark registration depend on the territorial scope of the desired protection and are usually structured as fixed prices. For trademark registration, we offer tiered fixed fees that vary depending on the type of application – national, EU-wide or international.

How do I register a trademark?

Trademark registration takes place in several steps:

1. Search: First, a comprehensive trademark search should be carried out to ensure that the desired trademark or a confusingly similar one is not already registered.
2. Decision on the type of application: Depending on your goal, the application can be filed with the German Patent and Trade Mark Office (DPMA), the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) or via the Madrid System for international trademark protection.
3. Completing the application: The application for trademark registration includes information about the trademark, the owner and the desired classes of protection (also called trademark or Nice classes). This can be done online or on paper. Fees are lower for electronic filing.
4. Filing the application: The completed application must be submitted to the DPMA or another office together with the corresponding fee.
5. Examination and publication: After filing, the office examines the application for formal and substantive criteria. If the examination is positive, the trademark is published and the protection period is generally ten years. Renewal is possible at any time.

How you can protect your trademark is explained in another article on our website.

Further costs in connection with a trademark application

In addition to the actual costs for the trademark application, further expenses arise over time that should be taken into account when planning. For example, after a protection period of usually ten years, the trademark must be renewed in order to maintain the protection. The costs for renewal depend on the territorial scope and generally correspond to an amount in the order of the original application fees.

If a third party files an opposition against the trademark application, additional costs may arise. A thorough trademark search before the application significantly minimizes this risk. Opposition proceedings can be expensive and can very quickly amount to between 5,000 and 15,000 euros, depending on the complexity of the case and the required effort.

To permanently protect your own trademark, it is also advisable to set up trademark monitoring, also known as collision monitoring. This service monitors new trademark applications that could potentially conflict with your own trademark. Here too, the costs of monitoring vary depending on the regional scope. However, the investment in such monitoring is important in order to be able to react at an early stage to possible conflicts and to permanently maintain the protective effect of the trademark.

FAQ – Frequently Asked Questions about Trademark Registration Costs

What does a trademark cost at the DPMA in total?
The pure official fees are 290 € (electronic). With legal examination, search and strategy, however, you should expect total costs starting at approx. 990 € in order to avoid legal risks such as expensive opposition proceedings.

Is the EU trademark (Union trademark) worthwhile for SMEs?
Yes, especially due to SME funding (SME Fund). Since you can be reimbursed up to 75% of the official fees, the surcharge compared to the German trademark is often small, while the scope of protection is significantly larger.

Can’t I simply register the trademark myself more cheaply?
Yes, that is possible, but risky. Registering a trademark “blindly” without prior professional research can be expensive. If you infringe older trademarks, you risk warning letters or opposition proceedings, which can quickly cost between 5,000 and 15,000 euros. In addition, an incorrect list of goods can often no longer be corrected afterwards.

Why does the lawyer cost extra?
The official fee only pays for processing by the office. The lawyer ensures that the trademark can actually be registered (checking for grounds for refusal) and is not later cancelled due to older rights of third parties (research). An error here can often generate thousands of euros in follow-up costs.

Conclusion: These are the costs you should expect

The costs of trademark registration go beyond the initial official fees. Careful planning and investment in comprehensive searches as well as in monitoring the market are crucial in order to ensure long-term protection and legal certainty. If you have any questions about the costs involved or the strategy for your trademark application, we are at your disposal at any time.