One of the most common questions we answer in a free consult is “what will it cost to trademark my name?”
This blog explains how those costs are calculated. So that you can determine how much it will cost you to trademark your name in Canada.
The total cost of trademarking has two components, one is the cost of hiring professional help and the second are the government fees.
Professional Help
The cost of hiring someone to help you trademark depends on how much help you think you need. If you’re ready to go the full DIY route, this will cost you nothing in terms of dollars (but it will cost you in time).
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If you want the security of knowing your trademark is done right, hiring a registered Canadian Trademark Agent is the way to go. Trademark Agents are the only professionals who are authorized to prepare and file Canadian trademark applications on behalf of business owners. Beware of companies advertising themselves as “Trademark Specialists,” “Trademark Experts” or “Trademark Professionals.”
They don’t qualify and likely don’t have the required depth of knowledge to properly assist you in protecting your brand and business.
At Markably® all trademarks are prepared and filed by Canadian Trademark Agents. The application step is so crucial in the success of your trademark, it’s important to have qualified help.
There are very few changes you can make to your trademark application once it has been filed, so our Trademark Agents ensure that your application does not contain mistakes. We’re so confident in our ability to file mistake-free trademark applications that we’ll make any revisions required by the Trademarks Office for free.
Government Fees
The government fee portion of your trademark costs depends on the number of classes of goods and services that your application covers.
Classes are basically groupings of similar goods and services, and there are 45 classes in total. Generally speaking, a particular product or service will fall into only one class, although depending on how you describe your items, more than one class may be covered.
For example, downloadable software is in Class 9, but non-downloadable software is in Class 42. Similarly, printed workbooks are in Class 16, but the downloadable version of that same workbook would be in Class 9.
In Canada, the government registration fees for a registration that covers only one class are $335.93 (fees are updated annually). If your application includes more than one class, each additional class adds $101.80 to the government fees payable at the time of filing your application.
Our Markably® online trademarking service calculates your government fees as you complete our trademark questionnaire.
What happens if you get the government fees wrong?
Government fees are required at the time of filing your trademark application. If you misclassify your goods and services and underpay the government fees, the Trademarks Office will issue an Examiner’s report citing incorrect classification and insufficient fees.
You do have the opportunity to correct the classification and pay for the required fees, but it will delay your trademark registration. If your goods and services are incorrectly classified resulting in an overpayment of government fees, unfortunately, the extra fees will not be refunded.
Filing a trademark application for your name is one of the best investments you can make for your business. The trademark registration you’ll eventually obtain will not only help you stop others from using the same or a similar name, but it will also protect you from challenges by others.
If you want your trademark done right, start the process with Markably® for free today.
