Guide · Real Costs
Trademark Your Brand in China: What It Really Costs from the US
"Register your trademark in China before someone else does" is standard advice on every seller forum — followed almost immediately by confusion about what it actually costs. The honest answer: a basic filing through a licensed China agent runs about $500 all-in, and the total scales with how many classes you cover and how much of the work you can do yourself.
The cost breakdown
| Item | Typical range | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Official fee, first class | included in agency quote | China's official fees are low; agents bundle them |
| Agency fee, per additional class | $100–250 | the main scaling factor |
| All-in single-class filing | ≈ $400–700 | search + filing + agency handling |
| Three-class portfolio (typical for sellers) | ≈ $1,200–2,100 | covers core + adjacent classes |
| Opposition (if someone filed first) | $1,500–4,000 | bad-faith evidence assembly is most of the cost |
| Customs recordal (after registration) | $300–600 | stops counterfeits at the border; optional |
Ranges are indicative 2026 market rates; a licensed agent quotes your exact case in writing before you commit to anything.
Why the "about $500" number keeps appearing on seller forums
Because it is real. Sellers who filed a single class through an agent they trusted kept reporting totals in the low hundreds of dollars — and sellers who skipped filing and later faced a squatter reported demands of $10,000–$30,000 to buy the name back. The asymmetry is the whole argument: prevention is one order of magnitude cheaper than recovery.
What a filing does NOT do
- It does not protect you retroactively from a squatter who filed first — that is an opposition or buyback problem.
- It does not cover every class automatically — you file per class, which is why choosing classes matters more than most first-timers expect.
- It is not a one-click online form for foreign entities — it goes through a CNIPA-licensed agent.
- Registering a trademark in China from the US costs about $500 for a basic single-class filing through a licensed agent.
- A typical three-class protective portfolio costs roughly $1,200–2,100 all-in.
- China trademark applications reportedly clear examination at only about a 50% rate, and buyback demands run $10,000–$30,000 — prevention stays dramatically cheaper than recovery.
Before you file: know if the name is even available
Filing a name someone already holds wastes the fee and the months. Our $149 scan checks China's registry for your exact name and its transliterations first — if the coast is clear, we refer you to a licensed agent with costs in writing. If it is not, you just saved yourself from a dead filing and learned your real options instead.