Flat fees for trademarks. Hourly for disputes.
Four flat-fee options for searches, filings, and office action responses, and an hourly rate for disputes. Every engagement starts with a free consultation, and you'll know the number before any work begins.
All-Inclusive Trademark
Everything from first search to registration, handled start to finish.
- Comprehensive clearance search — identify potential conflicts before you invest in the name
- USPTO application filing — prepared and filed by an attorney
- Office action responses — included, so an examiner's pushback never becomes a surprise bill
Clearance Search
Answers one question before you spend on signage, packaging, or a filing: can this name be registered?
- Federal, state, and common-law search for potentially conflicting marks
- Written assessment of registrability and potential conflicts
- Credit toward Option 1 if you decide to file
Infringement Opinion
Answers a different question: is using this name likely to infringe someone else's mark? For names already in use, or about to be.
- Deeper search of federal, state, common-law, and marketplace uses
- Written infringement opinion on your specific use, not just registrability
- Recommendations — proceed, adjust, or rebrand, with the reasoning
Office Action Response
Received a refusal after filing yourself or through an online filing service? Send the office action and get a flat quote before any work begins.
- Substantive refusals from $1,250 — likelihood of confusion, descriptiveness, and other refusals that need a legal argument
- Quoted to the office action — they vary widely in what they raise, so the price depends on what the examiner said
- No prior filing with Vargas IP needed — Thomas can also take over the application as attorney of record
Litigation & Pre-Litigation
For disputes and enforcement, where the scope depends on the other side. Retainers typically start at $3,500.
- Cease-and-desist letters — sending one, or responding to one
- Oppositions and cancellations before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board
- Trademark and patent litigation — infringement and enforcement matters
Payment plans available through Affirm.
Flat fees cover attorney services for one mark in one class; additional classes are quoted up front. USPTO government filing fees are not included. Oppositions, cancellations, and appeals are not included in any flat fee and are handled at the hourly rate. A clearance search assesses registrability and identifies potential conflicts; it is not an infringement opinion. An infringement opinion addresses a specific use and is a separate engagement, starting at $2,000 and quoted after review. Office action responses start at $1,250 for substantive refusals; because office actions vary widely in what they raise, each response is quoted individually after review.
Hourly matters are billed at $345 per hour against a retainer, which typically starts at $3,500 and is applied toward fees as work is performed. Court costs and other out-of-pocket expenses are billed separately.
Not sure which option fits?
Call or email and Thomas will tell you which option makes sense for your situation — and the exact number before any work begins.