Bluetooth SIG Fees

[NickN]

Hi,

We've been working on an IoT device that uses an nRF52840 in a pre-approved module from Moko. We are getting ready for a commercial launch in 2026, but I am very confused about the Bluetooth SIG fees we need to pay.

I am currently attending CES in Las Vegas and stopped by your booth. The very helpful person I talked to suggested I post here and ask for specific step by step guidance and links to make sure I was following the right path.

Background Information:

1. We are a startup with revenue below $1M USD/yr.
2. We are using a pre-approved module with a Nordic nRF52840.
3. We have not modified the module hardware.
4. We are using the standard Nordic softdevice.
5. We joined Bluetooth SIG as an Adopter (the free membership tier).

My understanding is that we do not need to pay the full "Product qualification fee", which is currently $11,040/yr. What we do need to pay is a "Product Listing Fee". However, I can find no reference to this fee anywhere on the Bluetooth SIG site. 

I've searched here and elsewhere and found very conflicting opinions. There is mention of an innovators program that reduces the listing fee to $2500 if your company qualifies (ours would appear to) but the links to the Bluetooth SIG site for that program all show "not found".

I know this has been asked here in the past, but the links in the previous answers are all dead and I could not find any recent answers.

What I need:

1. Confirmation of what process I should follow with Bluetooth SIG.
2. Current cost of that process.
3. Valid links to make sure I am following the correct path.
4. Clarification for multiple products. Can we submit multiple products under a single application if they all use the exact same Bluetooth component?

Thank you for your help.

[Emil Lenngren]

I agreee that Bluetooth SIG is definitely not friendly to startups, due to the high costs related to the Bluetooth product listing fees, compared to large corporates that sell millions of units, paying the exact same (static) fee.

According to this link, the Innovation Incentive Program was quietly stopped in February 2020.

For your first product using a particular design, you pay the product listing fee, currently $11,040, which is a fixed fee and not a fee that must be paid every year. If you use the same design in multiple products, you can add those additional products to your listing without paying anything extra. Typically, if you use the same Bluetooth stack (hardware and software), it counts as the same design.

Whether you use a pre-approved module or software is irrelevant regarding the listings fee of your first product submission. Using such a pre-approved design only helps you in the way that you don't have to perform any testing (which might otherwise incur further costs, in addition to the product listing fee). Even if you take an off-the-shelf white label product and you sell it as your own under your own name, you need to pay the fee.

Note that paying the fee to Bluetooth gives you two things:

1. The right to use the Bluetooth brand/trademark, including the name and logotype, for example in your marketing or on the product packaging. Bluetooth SIG claims that customs' authorities sometimes look in the Bluetooth SIG product database to see if such products are listed correctly.

2. A license to use necessary patents for the applicable Bluetooth technology. A member company that owns a patent necessary to implement BLE might sue you in court if you have not paid the fee, if your product makes use of the technology in that patent. Since BLE is pretty old now, the patents should expire pretty soon, in the near upcoming years, at least those covering those features included in the original Bluetooth 4.0 specification.

Thus, only if you don't use the Bluetooth brand, and are 100% sure you are not using any technology covered by any patent, then you do not have to perform the qualification process.

[NickN]

Thanks Emil. That's helpful. It doesn't completely square with what I've been told by either the Bluetooth SIG or Nordic, but at least it makes sense.

The fee being a one-time payment and not annual is particularly helpful for us. A SIG rep once claimed otherwise. An annual $11k fee for a pre-revenue small company is tough to swallow.

Similarly, it's very unclear to me what is considered a different device. We are developing IoT sensors and related products, so the Bluetooth functionality is just one small part of the device. We will be using the exact same Bluetooth module and antenna in multiple products. The Bluetooth stack will be identical, but the rest of the firmware and PCB will be different because the devices have different functionality (Bluetooth functionality is the same, the rest of the device features are different). I've heard "this would be considered the same device" and "this would be considered a new device" with no obvious right or wrong answer. 

And it does seem that the SIG will aggressively protect their IP if you try to launch without paying them. That part I can understand and respect, but the lack of clarity and the lack of flexibility for small companies is frustrating. 

[Emil Lenngren]

At https://www.bluetooth.com/fee-schedule/ it is clearly marked which fees are paid annually. The qualification fee is not one of them.

It also says "A Product Qualification Fee is charged for the first Product submission from a Member Company that includes a specific Design whether that Design is an existing Design (identified by a Design Number) or a new Design (that will be issued a Design Number upon completion of the Qualification process). Subsequent Product submissions from the same Member Company that include the same Design will not be charged a Product Qualification Fee. In addition, any Product submission from a Member Company that includes a subset Design (QPRD, Section 3.2.2.2.1) or a reassessed Design (QPRD, Section 3.2.2.2.2) will not be charged a Product Qualification Fee.".

If you are doing multiple products having the same bluetooth module and same bluetooth stack, you should simply reference the manufacturer's design when you make the declaration. Then add as many products as you like using the same design. See https://www.bluetooth.com/wp-content/uploads/Files/Specification/HTML/QPRD/out/en/index-en.html and table 3.2's column "Use a single existing design".

[NickN]

Thank you!