How much does it cost to register a trademark? UIBM vs EUIPO vs WIPO

"How much does it cost to register a trademark?" is the question every founder asks before filing, and the honest answer is: it depends on where you want protection, how many categories of goods or services you cover, and how much of the work you do yourself. Official fees are public and, for an Italian mark, surprisingly modest. The costs that actually move the needle are elsewhere. This guide gives you the verified fees of the three offices that matter for an Italian or European business, UIBM, EUIPO and WIPO, and the criteria for choosing between them. It is general information, not legal or tax advice.

Three tiers of protection

A trademark is only valid in the territory it is registered for. Hence three routes:

• Italian trademark (UIBM): protection limited to Italy. Filed with the Ufficio Italiano Brevetti e Marchi, either online or through a Chamber of Commerce.
• European Union trademark (EUIPO): one filing, unitary protection across all 27 member states. But it is all-or-nothing: if the mark is refused or cancelled because of a conflict in a single country, it falls everywhere.
• International trademark (WIPO, Madrid System): not a "worldwide" mark but a mechanism for extending a base mark (Italian or EU) to one or more member countries through a single application, designating each one.

Official fees compared

The table shows filing fees verified on the date in the note below. All amounts refer to an individual mark.

Item	UIBM (Italy)	EUIPO (European Union)	WIPO (Madrid)
Basic fee, 1 class	EUR 101 (EUR 34 application + EUR 67 class)	EUR 850 (e-filing)	CHF 653 black and white, CHF 903 colour (covers up to 3 classes)
Second class	+EUR 34	+EUR 50	included
Third class	+EUR 34	+EUR 150	included
Further classes	+EUR 34 each	+EUR 150 each	+CHF 100 each beyond the third
Per designated country	—	—	+CHF 100 (complementary fee) or an individual fee set by that country
Example, 3 classes	EUR 169	EUR 1,050	from CHF 653 + per-country fees
Term	10 years	10 years	10 years

Verification note. Amounts checked on 24 October 2026 against official and institutional sources: for UIBM, Chamber of Commerce guides based on the ministerial fee schedule (for example the Camera di Commercio della Romagna guide) and the UIBM website; for EUIPO, the EUIPO Guidelines on fees and euipo.europa.eu; for WIPO, the official Madrid System fees page. Fees change: always confirm the current amount on the official site before paying.

A few points the table alone does not convey.

UIBM: what gets added to the EUR 101

The government fee is only part of the bill. If you file through a Chamber of Commerce, handling fees apply (the Chamber guides consulted indicate EUR 40 per application), plus stamp duty: for paper filings, one EUR 16 stamp per four sheets. For online filing, check the current stamp duty on the UIBM website. Ten-year renewal costs EUR 67 for the first class and EUR 34 for each additional class, with a EUR 34 surcharge if you renew within the six months after expiry.

A single-class Italian mark filed on your own therefore comes in under EUR 200 all-in. It is among the cheapest national protections in Europe.

EUIPO: the second class is cheap, the third is not

The EUIPO fee structure is designed to discourage scattergun filings in unnecessary classes: EUR 850 for the first class, only EUR 50 for the second, but EUR 150 for each class from the third onwards. Two well-chosen classes cost EUR 900; five classes reach EUR 1,350. Renewal follows the same logic. Filing is online only and in euros.

Bear in mind that the hidden cost of an EU mark is not the fee: it is the opposition risk. Across 27 markets and millions of earlier marks, the chance that someone in Latvia or Portugal holds a similar sign in your class is real, and defending an opposition can cost far more than the filing.

WIPO: the basic fee is just the start

Madrid System fees are paid in Swiss francs and stack in three layers: the basic fee (CHF 653 for a black-and-white mark, CHF 903 in colour), a complementary fee of CHF 100 for each designated country applying standard rates, or an individual fee set by that country, often much higher and charged per class, and a supplementary fee of CHF 100 for each class beyond three. The United States, Japan, China and most major markets charge individual fees, so for a realistic estimate use the official WIPO fee calculator. Add the office-of-origin fee (UIBM or EUIPO) for transmitting the application, which you should check on the respective site.

The costs you will not find in any fee schedule

Fees are the predictable part. Four items are what really swing the budget.

The clearance search. Filing without searching for similar marks is the surest way to lose your fee and, worse, to build a brand on a name you will later have to abandon. A serious search covers identical and similar marks by sound and meaning, in the relevant classes, in the registers of the territories you care about. NameSapiens' free Name Check gives you a first reading of the trademark dimension of a name, handy for discarding problematic candidates before paying for professional searches.

Professional advice. A trademark attorney bills according to complexity: drafting the application, choosing and wording the classes, managing the proceedings. The value is not in filling in the form but in writing a goods-and-services list that is neither too narrow (it fails to protect you) nor too broad (it invites oppositions and non-use cancellation).

Oppositions. After publication, owners of earlier marks have a window to oppose (three months at the EUIPO). Defending against an opposition, or bringing one, takes time and legal help. The closer your name sits to existing registrations, the heavier this line item.

Translations and local agents. Extensions outside the EU often require local representatives and translated documents, with costs that vary widely by country.

Which route to choose

There is no single answer, but there are clear criteria.

1. Where you sell today and where you will sell within five years. A trademark protects use: registering in territories you will never enter is waste, and in many jurisdictions a mark unused for five years becomes vulnerable to cancellation.
2. Your budget for disputes, not just for filing. An EU mark on a weak name is an invitation to oppositions you cannot afford to fight.
3. The strength of the name. An invented, distinctive name with no known conflicts justifies broad filing; a descriptive or crowded name should first be strengthened or replaced.

A common sequence for an Italian SME starting to export is: Italian mark immediately (cheap, and it fixes your priority date), EU mark within six months using the right of priority, Madrid extension to non-EU countries once the business justifies it. The six-month priority window is what makes this sequence efficient: the first filing date carries over to the later ones.

In short

An Italian trademark costs less than dinner for two; an EU mark in two classes less than a laptop; an international mark across three or four non-EU markets can exceed the price of a used car. In every case, though, the most important money is spent beforehand: checking that the name is genuinely registrable and defensible. A search costing a few tens of euros avoids forfeited fees, forced rebrands and years of litigation.