A trademark search is a process of investigating a trademark to determine whether it is available for registration and use. The goal is to find out if there are any existing trademarks that are similar to the one that you want to register that could lead to conflicts or rejection of your trademark application by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”).
The purpose of a trademark search is to avoid conflict.
By conducting a trademark search, you can identify if someone else is using a similar trademark to yours. If that was the case, you may not be able to get your mark registered with the USPTO. In addition, determining that another person is using a similar trademark to yours can prevent you from being sued.
A search requires more than just googling the name of your business to see if someone else is using it.
Rather, a comprehensive search requires utilizing the USPTO’s search database to look for registered marks as well as scouring traditional search engines and social media to look for unregistered common law trademarks.
In addition, you should be looking for more than just marks that are identical to yours. For example, if my trademark was “The Copy Cat”, it wouldn’t be good enough to just determine that no one else is using “The Copy Cat.” Rather, I would need to look out for trademarks that are similar enough to “The Copy Cat” that a consumer might be confused. In addition, I would need to consider what kinds of goods and services are being sold under each of the trademarks to determine if they are confusingly similar.
For example, these marks would likely be considered confusingly similar:
- “The Copy Cat” for selling copiers and “The Copy Kittens” for selling copy paper.
- “Moose’s PJ’s” for selling pajamas and “Moose’s” for selling loungewear.
- “Cwala” for selling beer and “Koala” for selling wine.
In sum, performing a trademark search early in the process can save time, effort, and money, and it helps ensure that your trademark can be used and registered without legal complications. If you are interested in having an attorney perform a trademark search for you, please contact one of our experienced intellectual property attorneys.
Author: Jennifer Shannon