Tips from the Trademark Insider: Check to See If Your Mark is Available

Before committing to applying for trademark protection, it is important to check the availability of the proposed mark by conducting appropriate searches. If you cannot afford a comprehensive research report at a minimum perform a search of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s records using the USPTO.gov’s search system to identify registrations for identical or highly similar marks, and attempting to determine whether these marks may be in use. This will provide you with some level of confidence that the mark you select will not be infringing upon another existing mark.

The Trademark Company