A registered trademark search prior to filing can save you a lot of trouble

Posted by AmandaTom on June 23rd, 2013

Doing a registered trademark search prior to filing an application with the United States Patent and Trademark Office is always a good idea. Although it may seem at first as a superfluous waste of time and money it can save you from future headaches. There are many US trademark search engines and dedicated companies that will provide access to their databases and expertise, so you can avoid the hassle of doing all the research yourself and trust the seasoned professionals instead.

The reason why you should register your trademark is a no-brainer, it is the only guaranteed way to gain protection for your products and company, without registration there is no way to enforce legal measures against any infringing party, be it willful or merely accidental, and it is obvious why that would be a problem that could cost you a lot of business.

So the first thing you should do is to make sure you won’t be infringing on an existing trademark, that there isn’t already a registered mark that resembles yours, because then they would have the law on their side. So after performing a US trademark search you find that someone has already registered a mark, logo, words and fonts and colors, that could be mistaken for yours by customers, it would be wise to consider changing it because otherwise your application could be rejected by the United States Patent and Trademark Office. Even if the search yields no result, don’t think about it as a waste of resources, because if your application would have been rejected, you would have lost the processing fee, because the government does not offer refunds on that fee.

Having a company perform a US trademark search on your behalf can also paint you a picture of your competition, allowing you to see similar companies that have pending trademark applications and the established businesses that are already active in your field. A registered trademark search is offered for free by many companies that intermediate the registration process so there is really no reason not to do one.

You can also perform a registered trademark search by yourself if you wish, the information is accessible for free, online, using the Trademark Electronic Search System website or by visiting a Patent and Trademark Depository Library, which you can find in each and every state. The trademark records are publicly available but in order to ensure a safe decision your best bet is to seek the services of an experienced trademark lawyer, that way you are guaranteed to have had an extensive, thorough search performed and you won’t risk having your application rejected by the authorities.

There are many companies that specialize in US trademark search that can assist you with both a registered trademark search and legal counsel to make sure your mark does not infringe upon existing trademarks and will not be infringed by future trademarks, and they can also assist you with the registration filing process itself, saving you valuable time.

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AmandaTom

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AmandaTom
Joined: August 8th, 2012
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