Once you have made the decision to file a trademark, you may want to consider the benefits of filing a trademark search beforehand. Our trademark search services allow you to search currently registered and pending trademark applications to verify that your trademark is unique before you file your application, saving you time and money. Our experts will guide you every step of the way to help ensure that your trademark application process is quick and simple.
A comprehensive trademark search provides you with full clearance to make sure your mark is available for use and registration with the USPTO. Contrary to popular belief, filing a trademark application with the USPTO does not mean that the mark you intend to trademark is available for registration, or that it does not infringe on an existing mark. In fact, it is possible to register your trademark only to discover later that your mark infringes on a pre-registered mark. This can be a costly mistake down the road and be detrimental to your brand. It can also potentially leave your intellectual property unprotected.
Due to these risks, an extensive trademark search is your best bet to prevent missteps and one of the most critical choices when protecting your brand. You should never trust a DIY trademark search.
A trademark conflict applies not only identical registered marks, but also confusingly similar marks. To better explain what that means, a properly conducted trademark search would be looking to identify not only design similarities, similar names, similar colors and layout, but also font usage, punctuation, spacing and phonetics. For this reason, it is not recommended that you attempt to do a DIY trademark search. Using a trademark attorney or a more affordable trademark search service will give you significantly more thorough and reliable results.
MyCorporation's trademark search is comprehensive. It looks for similar marks in use throughout the United States, using multiple search strategies and examines numerous tradmark databases to find similar text and logos. It can provide you with information regarding federally registered or pending marks, marks that are registered or pending on a state level, as well as common law marks. Don't file a trademark registration application only to have it rejected because another conflicting mark already exists. Start the Trademark Search process with us today.
While trademark searches can provide extensive information regarding other marks that may be in use in commerce, and the status of those marks (i.e., registered, pending or abandoned), searches do not provide definitive answers as to whether a trademark can be registered with the USPTO. An Examiner at the USPTO must examine the trademark to determine availability for use and registration. The Examiner will evaluate whether the mark conflicts with a previously existing mark and/or whether it is sufficient to meet the minimum requirements to become a federally registered trademark.
When we begin to examine your mark, we first need to find out if there are any conflicting or any confusingly similar marks already registered in the trademark database. To do this, design search codes are assigned to every significant element of your design that is not a word. Any component of your mark that too closely resembles another and is likely to be rejected by the USPTO will be identified.
For text searches:
You will receive a search report outlining federal marks listed in the Official Gazette and active USPTO text records from 1884 to present, as well as a search report outlining state marks in all 50 states. You will also receive a "common law" search report, a business name report, and a domain name report.
These are marks that have not yet been registered with the USPTO, but are either in the queue to be registered, or are on hold pending Examiner inquiry or opposition from a third party.
Common law trademark rights have been developed under a judicially created scheme of rights governed by state law. Common law trademarks (unregistered trademarks) generally provide protection only in areas in which the trademarks have actually been used; thus, providing only a limited scope of protection. A trademark may have common law rights associated with it even though the mark has not been registered with a state or the federal government.
A dead or abandoned status for a trademark application means that specific application is no longer under prosecution within the USPTO, and would not be used as a bar against your filing. It does not necessarily mean that there are not other marks that might be in use in commerce (i.e., certain marks can be dead or abandoned, but are still in use in commerce).
A "live" mark is one wherein the application is currently under prosecution within the USPTO. A "live" mark could be used as a bar against a subsequently filed trademark application.
Federal registration, a system created by federal statute, is not required to establish common law rights in a mark, nor is it required to begin use of a mark. However, federal registration gives a trademark owner substantial additional rights not available under common law.