Preliminary Trademark Screening

Preliminary trademark screening consists of an on-line search of US Federal, US State trademark registers, the Internet, and international marks in over 120 countries. It narrows a list of potential trademarks by “knocking out” names that are too similar to existing trademarks.

A business, organization or individual obtains trademark rights by being the first in a given market either to use a mark or to file for the mark (provided that the mark is successfully registered). Once the trademark owner obtains such rights, the owner is entitled to stop newcomers from using similar marks in ways that are likely to cause confusion. Thus, anyone who contemplates adopting a new mark faces the risk that someone else may have already obtained rights to a similar mark for similar goods or services. A preliminary trademark screen is a critical step in creating a new mark.

Step 1: We screen the US Federal and US State trademark registers for identical marks in all International Classes and for similar names in classes relevant to the goods and services of a project.

Step 2: We typically screen 30 or more trademark registers outside the US for identical and near identical marks.

Step 3: We screen the Internet for identical and similar marks on identical and similar goods and services.

Step 4: We screen high-level domains for identical and similar use.

We use trademark databases available from Corsearch. These include the US Federal and US State trademark databases as well as over 120 trademark registers outside the US. These registers include: Australia, Austria, Benelux, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Czech Republic, Denmark, European Community, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, India, International Register, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Turkey, United Kingdom, WIPO. A 'worldwide' screen typically includes the above set of countries.

Yes. There are millions of trademarks in the world. Before you develop a new trademark, we can evaluate your name’s uniqueness against many of the same databases an attorney will use when he or she orders a full search report. Quick and thorough preliminary trademark screening saves time and money, and increases the chances that the best names get to market.

Usually within 24 to 48 hours, Monday through Friday.

Screening and analysis costs are much lower than those provided by law firms, paralegals, or in-house employees. Screening costs begin at $200 for one name with each additional name costing $50 each if screening is on the US Federal and US State trademark registers only or $60 each if screening includes trademark registers outside the US.

Yes. Electronic reports containing all relevant identical and similar marks, classes of goods and services, descriptions of goods and services, registration and filing date, and the owner’s name are available.