US Trademark Search

The process of clearing a trademark involves conducting a search to determine whether a proposed trademark is available. There are several reasons to conduct a trademark search before you simply adopt a trademark.

First, and most importantly, a trademark search will tell you whether someone else may have already adopted the identical trademark or a highly similar one. If you adopt a trademark that is already in use by someone else, you may be inviting a trademark infringement lawsuit, and, if you lose the lawsuit (or settle), you may have to pay monetary damages. Second, a trademark search will turn up any prior trademark registrations or pending applications that are likely to prevent you from registering your trademark with the Patent and Trademark Office. This will save you the time and money of filing an application to register a trademark that has little chance of actually getting registered. Third, but not least, a trademark search will help you assess the relative strength of your mark by showing you how many other similar trademarks are out there in the marketplace.

There are several types of trademark searches that can be performed, depending on your budget and goals. These range from simple searches of the Patent and Trademark Office’s registers to comprehensive searches of multiple resources, such as state trademark registries, directories, publications, the Internet, and other common law sources. Because anything less than a thorough search defeats the very purpose of conducting a search, the Trademark Sentinel service uses industry leaders Thomson CompuMark and CT Corsearch to conduct its trademark searches. Choose from the various types of trademark searches available through the Trademark Sentinel service.