How to find out if a name is Trademarked?

Introduction

A trademark is a word, phrase, symbol, or design that identifies the source of goods or services. Trademark rights may be used to prevent others from using a confusingly similar mark on related goods and services. A person who owns a registration for a trademark can legally prevent others from using it in commerce by bringing an infringement lawsuit in federal court. However, before you can file suit against someone for infringing on your mark, you must first do some research to determine if there are any existing trademarks that may be similar enough to yours so as not to cause confusion among customers or other businesses who might come across them.

You can find out if a trademark is registered by searching the TESS database.

You can search a database maintained by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). This database contains information about trademark registrations and applications.

There are two ways to search for a trademark: by owner name or mark number. If you already know who owns the mark, then you can search for it by owner name in the TESS system. For example, if you want to check whether “Google” is trademarked, then type “Google” into the “Owner Name” box on the TESS home page, click “Search” and look at all of the results returned by your query.

You can conduct your search online by accessing the Trademark Electronic Search System (TESS).

You can conduct your search online by accessing the Trademark Electronic Search System (TESS). It is located on the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office website.

If you’re looking for a specific trademark, enter it in the “Mark” field and then click on “Search.” If you want to search based on an owner’s name or serial number, select either of those fields instead; select one field at a time when conducting your search.

You can also limit your search results by class—like clothing, beverages, or pharmaceuticals—or exclude identical marks from appearing in your results.

You can also search for trademarks online through numerous private companies that do business with the Trademark Office for a fee. A general web search will turn up these companies, or you can ask a patent attorney if he or she recommends one over another.

The Trademark Electronic Search System, or TESS, is an online database that contains federal trademark applications and registrations issued since 1884 when the first federal trademark law went into effect.

You can use this database to find out whether a particular name has already been trademarked by searching for the word or words in question. If your name is not found, you can then apply for your own federal trademark registration.

To search the TESS database, go to www.uspto.gov/tess and type in all or part of the name that you are searching for into the “Trademark Number” field at the top left corner of your screen. After entering it, click “Search U.S. Trademarks” or hit Enter on your keyboard if using a Windows computer (it’s ⌘ + Enter with Macs).

The records in TESS are organized by mark, owner name and serial or registration number and are searchable using any of those fields.

The records in TESS are organized by mark, owner name and serial or registration number and are searchable using any of those fields.

To get started, you can search for a specific mark by typing it into the “Search” field on the left side of the screen. You can also narrow your results down by class of goods or services (e.g., apparel) if you want to use that information when searching for a trademarked product.

If you don’t know what mark was used, but have an idea of who owns it, you can find out who owns that particular trademarked product. To do this simply type in all or part of an owner name into TESS’ “Search Name” field on the right side of its home page under “Trademark Owners.”

You can also search by class of goods or services to find trademarks that are similar to yours without being identical.

This type of search is called a “knockout” search because it eliminates all marks that are identical to yours and shows only those marks that might be considered confusingly similar to yours.

Another way to conduct a trademark search is by class of goods or services. For example, you can search for trademarks that are similar to yours without being identical. This type of search is called a “knockout” search because it eliminates all marks that are identical to yours and shows only those marks that might be considered confusingly similar to yours.

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) offers two ways of conducting such searches:

• By using the Trademark Electronic Search System (TESS)
• By filing an application for registration with the USPTO

For example, if you were trying to register a trademark consisting of the words “Chocolate Factory,” you would want to find out whether other businesses were using that term for chocolate products before you spent time and money applying for and defending your mark in court.

If you’re planning on creating a new business and need to find out if a name is trademarked, there are several things you can do. For example, if you were trying to register a trademark consisting of the words “Chocolate Factory,” you would want to find out whether other businesses were using that term for chocolate products before you spent time and money applying for and defending your mark in court.

Here are some steps you can take:

• Get a patent search done. The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) offers this service as part of its Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. They’ll tell if someone else has filed an application for the same mark or similar marks with them. If so, that means it’s likely already trademarked by someone else; therefore, no one else should be able to use it without permission from the person who owns the mark(s).
• Find out whether your proposed name is available for use as an Internet domain name by searching various top-level domains like “.com” or “.net.” The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) makes this information publically available through its WHOIS database.

Conclusion

If you are considering registering a trademark, it is always a good idea to do a search first. It will save you time and money if there is already an existing mark that would cause confusion with your proposed mark. This is especially true if you are planning on selling or manufacturing goods in another country where there may be more than one entity using the same name for similar products.