How we build these estimates

Data sources

Government fees are taken from the fee schedules published by the relevant authority: the United States Patent and Trademark Office for trademark filings, and each state business filing office for LLC formation, annual reports and franchise taxes. These are exact amounts, not estimates, and they are the only figures on the site we treat as precise.

Market prices for professional services come from advertised pricing pages, published rate surveys and quotes that businesses report publicly. These are ranges, because the same work genuinely costs different amounts in different markets. Where a provider advertises a starting price that is not achievable in practice, we use the realistic band instead.

How we build ranges

We publish a low and a high rather than a single figure. The low reflects a simple case handled efficiently. The high reflects a case with normal complications, not a disaster. Neither end is a worst case, and neither should be read as a quote.

Where an outcome is probabilistic, such as whether a trademark application receives an office action, we apply a stated probability to a cost range rather than either ignoring the risk or assuming it always happens. The probability used is shown on the calculator page.

What we exclude

We exclude litigation, disputes, appeals, opposition proceedings and anything that only happens when a matter goes badly wrong. We exclude international filings, industry specific licences, local permits and taxes that depend on revenue. These are real costs, but their ranges are so wide that including them would reduce the usefulness of the estimate.

Review schedule

Government fee schedules are checked at least twice a year and whenever an authority announces a change. Market price bands are reviewed annually. Every calculator and guide shows when it was last updated. If you spot a figure that is out of date, tell us and we will correct it.

Independence policy

Cost of Legal is funded entirely by display advertising. We do not accept payment from law firms, filing services or software vendors in exchange for coverage, placement or a favourable range. We run no affiliate links to legal products. We do not operate a directory, a marketplace or a matching service.

We do not collect reader contact details for any commercial purpose, and we never sell, rent or pass on reader information. There is no lead form on this site and there never will be. Advertising is served by a third party network and is labelled as advertising wherever it appears.

Cost of Legal is site five in a small network of independent cost research sites. The other four cover compliance, cyber insurance, hiring and financing, and they follow the same rules. Links between them are editorial, not paid.

Corrections

If a figure is wrong we change it and note the change. We do not quietly amend numbers after a complaint from a business that dislikes the range. Corrections requests go through the contact page.