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Does a response to a trademark specimen refusal cost anything?

Senior Trademark Attorney

Filing the response itself is free. No government fee is charged for submitting a substitute specimen or a response to a specimen office action.

Under the USPTO's updated fee structure (effective January 2025), a $100 per-class surcharge applies if the goods and services description needs to be amended as part of the response. If the response is limited to submitting a substitute specimen, no surcharge applies.

If you use a legal representative to handle the response, their service fees apply.

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