Trademark Searching
Doing Your First Trademark Search
To determine whether your proposed trademark can be registered you will want to first determine whether someone else has already registered the same mark or a similar mark that would cause confusion between the two different marks. You do this by searching various types of databases to see if your mark is already registered or in use by another person or entity.
1. Search the Database at the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
You first need to describe your mark. Keep this simple for your first attempt at searching. For example, let say you have designed a new line of clothing for the businessperson and that you want to market this line of clothing using the letters VIP (meaning Very Important Person). Now go to the United States Trademark Office Web Site and access the Trademark Electronic Search System, known as TESS, which contains more than 2.9 million pending, registered and dead records.
Once you have accessed TESS you will be presented with several choices for conducting your search. For this simple search, choose "New User Form Search (Basic)". When the search form appears on your monitor screen, type in "VIP" in the "Search Term" box. Click on search and in a few seconds the results of your first search will appear.
If you have followed these instructions correctly, you should have determined that the term "VIP" is used in combination with other words in over 680 different registered marks. You now need to review each of the registered marks to determine whether any one of them is applied to a line of clothing. This of course, will take time, but it is the only way that you can make a preliminary determination of whether your mark appears to be available for registration.
2. Search the Various Databases of the Individual States of the United States of America
Your next step is to search the various state registration databases to determine whether your proposed mark is in used in intrastate commerce in an individual state, but not registered for interstate commerce with the United States Patent and Trademark Office. Unfortunately, this type of database information is not readily available via the Internet from the various states. You can obtain this information however, using a search service such as Thomson and Thomson, that will charge you a fee for searching their database information.
3. Search the Whitepages and the Yellowpages of the Major Metropolitan Cities in the United States.
To provide a complete search you would need to further search the various other databases that may be available for searching, such as whitepage databases, and yellowpage databases. Here are a few links to help you in this task: Yellowpage Directories: Qwestdex, Smartpages, B2Byellowpages, AOL Yellowpages.
A Warning: Because the database of trademarks is so extensive and must be updated on a daily basis there are only a limited number of databases that may be viewed without charge. Moreover, the database information that may be viewed, is very limited. For example, although the United States Patent and Trademark Office provides over 2.9 million pending, registered and dead federal trademarks, this database does not cover unregistered names that are in use and found in yellow page and white page directories, nor state registered trademarks or service marks. It is for this reason that the United States Patent and Trademark Office provides the following: WARNING: AFTER SEARCHING THE USPTO DATABASE, EVEN IF YOU THINK THE RESULTS ARE "O.K.," DO NOT ASSUME THAT YOUR MARK CAN BE REGISTERED AT THE USPTO. AFTER YOU FILE AN APPLICATION, THE USPTO MUST DO ITS OWN SEARCH AND OTHER REVIEW, AND MIGHT REFUSE TO REGISTER YOUR MARK.
Because the database is incomplete we do not recommend individuals searching the available databases for available marks. Instead we recommend that you hire the services of a professional, such as our firm, who will conduct the search on a fixed fee basis.
If you would like to engage our services to help you with determining whether your mark appears to be registerable, send us a brief description of the good or services that the mark will be utilized with and a brief description of the mark and whether the mark is in actual use or is merely intended to be used in the future. We will promptly reply by providing you with a fixed price quote for conducting a trademark search and for preparing and filing a trademark application on your behalf. All communications with our office are held in the strictest confidence. A schedule of our fees relating to trademark matter, including a sample engagement letter is available for your review.
