How much does it cost to maintain a trademark?: Andrei’s Answer

The answer to that is no: most countries will not require any additional yearly maintenance fees for maintaining a trademark. How much does it cost to maintain a trademark? Usually nothing, in most countries. What does it cost to trademark something? Well, that comes in the initial filing and any subsequent renewals.

Most countries recognize your trademark registration for 10 years and you can renew it for another 10 years, and then another 10 years, and then another 10 years. So they go in 10-year increments. The average cost of a trademark can go up from year to year, and that’s something to be aware of preparing to renew.

There are a few exceptions to this once-every-ten-years standard. In Canada, for example, the initial term is 15 years and you can renew it for another 15, and so on. 

Canada is likely going to be transitioning to 10-year periods to align itself with the rest of the world very soon. We don't know when it's going to happen, but it is going to happen eventually, so it’s something to be aware of if you plan on holding a trademark in Canada.

The American Exception: Filing a Statement of Use and the Average Cost of Trademark

The only exception that you should bear in mind, is that in the U.S., you need to file a post-registration Statement of Use between the 5th and 6th year of your registration to show the Trademarks Office that you are still using your trademark, that you are still interested in protecting it. And they require you to take action to show them that. This will include paying a fee for each class of good or service being trademarked.

These additional fees can make filing American renewals more than the international average cost of a trademark, but that comes with the privilege and prestige an American trademark brings with it. But other than that, there are no fees in the middle of the registration and the next renewal and then the next renewal.