Application fees

Publication Date: June 17, 2019

Amendment date: October 28, 2020

This notice is intended to clarify the practice of the Trademarks Office with respect to trademark application fees.

The prescribed fee for an application for the registration of a trademark under paragraph 33(1)(f) of the Trademarks Act is dependent on the number of classes of goods or services to which the application relates as of the filing date.

Subsection 32(4) of the Trademarks Regulations specifies that the fee required to obtain a filing date is the fee for the first class of goods or services to which the application relates. Therefore, it is not necessary to pay the fees for each additional class of goods or services in order to obtain a filing date. Nevertheless, subsection 32(1) of the Trademarks Regulations specifies that an applicant must pay all of the prescribed fees for an application for the registration of a trademark. Accordingly, prior to a trademark application being advertised, the applicant must also pay the prescribed fee required for each additional class of goods or services to which the applications relates as of the filing date (if applicable). The required fee will be calculated based on the number of Nice Classes that apply to the goods or services listed in the application on the day the application was granted a filing date.

Note: The prescribed application fees are adjusted every year on the first of January. The amount for the first class of goods or services depends on the date on which the payment is received by the Registrar. Similarly, the amount for any additional Nice classes also depends on the date on which the payment is received, even if the prescribed fee for the first class of goods or services to which the application relates was paid prior to the annual adjustment. To find out the exact amount of a fee, please consult the list of fees for trademarks.

Also note that the applicant cannot avoid the fee for additional classes by removing goods or services after an application has been granted a filing date.

Example:

In the case of an application for the registration of a trademark relating to four different classes of goods or services, only the amount for the first class would be required to obtain a filing date. While the applicant may subsequently amend the statement of goods and services to remove one class, this would have no impact on the amount required given that the application fee is determined based on the number of classes of goods or services in the application at the filing date. In other words, even if the applications went from three additional classes to two additional classes, the applicant would still need to pay the amount required for the initial three additional classes of goods of services.

Applicants should keep in mind that the prescribed application fees are adjusted yearly. In the above scenario, should the Registrar receive the payment for the three additional classes after January 1, the applicant will need to pay the adjusted prescribed fee for the new year. To find out the exact amount of a fee, please consult the list of fees for trademarks.