Businesses use trademarks, valuable words and symbols to distinguish themselves and their goods and services.
Find out whether a comparable trademark has already been registered by someone else before you begin using any in your company. If it has, choosing a different trademark will help you avoid hassle and build a better brand.
By taking proactive measures to make sure you don’t infringe on another company’s trademark, you may prevent legal difficulties and a tonne of hassles.
The Importance of a Trademark Search
- It is always preferable to be safe than sorry. A brand registration check would prevent a violation of the relevant laws.
- A key consideration while choosing a trademark to prevent any duplication is availability.
- The trademark must be distinct and have the appropriate trademark classification.
- A thorough search will reveal every possible conflict and prevent it.
Create a List of Potential Brand Names
Making a list of the suggested brand names, business names, or product names you desire to register or verifying whether they have already registered in India is the first step.
Now you need to know whether the name has already available or not. Then you should check the said name on a search engine like Google to see if anything is available in this world with your name. If a similar name is available, you should skip that name if possible because someone else is working on that name, and it is better to leave it for a good cause.
Visit the Trademark Public Search Page
You must go to the official trademark search page.
On the official website of trademark search, you will find columns for the search. And in the first column, you should know whether you want to search for the exact match or it contains a search of starting the word, so it depends on the search mark that you are going to do, so it is advisable to search with contains first, followed by the start and exact match.
Access to the Registrar of Trademarks database is free, and anyone with access to this database can do a brand registration check. This database is crucial for deciding on a brand name in the first place.
Every firm or entrepreneur should make sure a brand name is available here before opting to utilise it on the market. It can help you avoid investing money in a certain brand name to discover that it is already owned by someone else.
Methods for Searching for a Trademark
- Visit https://ipindiaonline.gov.in, the official website for trademark registration in India.
- After selecting the trademarks tab, select public search.
- Wordmark, Vienna code and phonetic are the three search criteria that provide.
- You must choose the search option after entering all the necessary information.
- A list of registered trademarks that have been registered objected to, or abandoned will be displayed in the result panel and used as the basis for choosing a trademark.
Guidelines to Conduct a Trademark Check
- Check to determine whether a trademark that looks similar to yours has been registered for any products or services that are comparable.
- It comprises the information necessary to examine a mark following the requirements of the Vienna Search Code, such as the International Classification of the Figurative Elements of Marks.
- A preliminary TM search is often referred to as a knock-out search. It is the first step in the trademark registration process before investing time and money in a trademark. This usually involves searching the trademark database utilising IP India, the official website, or the business’s quick brand data search tool. To determine whether any identical trademarks have previously been registered for your comparable goods or services, all it takes is a quick search.
- An early trademark search, however, does not ensure that the suggested trademark will be registered. Only the most blatant trademark disputes are displayed.
- Finding exact matches for brands may be quite straightforward, but doing so for spelling and name variants can be considerably more challenging.
- A TESS name search allows you to look for plurals. Nevertheless, the search does not turn up any words that sound similar to your brand but are written otherwise. To identify comparable brands, you’ll have to conduct many searches using all the different spellings of your name you can come up with.
- A formal search called the thorough TM search offers legal counsel on the dangers of trademark registration. If you own a small business, your name is everything. It is visible on your website, billboards, and marketing collateral.
- Trademarks may resemble one another but not exactly. If two names share the same appearance or pronunciation, they may be similar.
- Head over to TESS and select a search option to search the USPTO’s trademark database. Use the trademark name search if you’re looking for a name. Using the USPTO’s Design Search Code Manual, you must first look up your design code if searching for a design mark, such as a logo.
- Check the search results each time you conduct a trademark search for marks that are identical to or similar to yours. List the marks that are similar or identical, together with details on the products or services they are registered for.
Conclusion
Before registering a trademark, it is essential to search. If every box is checked before registering, everything will go smoothly and without difficulty.
PATHtoIP® is a well-known firm that offers top-notch intellectual property services through a knowledgeable group of IP consultants that have helped many organisations and inventors. Using the data you provide, PATHtoIP® professionals will conduct in-depth research to ascertain the existence of any patentability requirements.
PATHtoIP® is aware of the cost and makes an effort two keep expenses as low as possible while offering guidance on how to proceed with any necessary amendments to your trademark application.