Research Guides: Patents and Trademarks: Trademark Searching

Why Search?

Trademark searches can satisfy many needs. The most common reason for conducting a trademark search is to determine whether a "likelihood of confusion" exists. Has a mark already been registered that is:

the same or similar to your mark
used on related products or for related services

Trademark searches can also be a part of researching a company as they can show how many marks the company holds. A search can also reveal more about an individual mark.

Tools for Searching U.S. Trademarks

TESS
The Trademark Electronic Search System is a USPTO database for the public to search active and inactive federal trademark applications and registrations, both word and design marks.
ID Manual
The U.S. Acceptable Identification of Goods and Services Manual is where you can find a code associated with your good or service, which you can use to do a search using TESS.
Design Search Code Manual
Where you can find an image category code, which you can use to find design marks using TESS.

How to Perform a Trademark Word Search

Go to TESS
Select Basic Word Mark Search
Type the word you wish to search
Choose if you wish to search plural forms of the word
Choose if you wish to search live and dead marks, or just one or the other
Use Combined Word Mark field
Click Submit Query

How to Perform a Trademark Design Search

Go to the ID Manual
1. Find your good or service and make note of the appropriate code for later use.
Go to the Design Search Code Manual
1. Find the image category that most closely matches the image you wish to trademark. You can do this by using the Keyword Search or by browsing by category. Make note of the appropriate code for later use.
Go to TESS
1. Select Word and/or Design Mark Search
  1. Structured if searching one or two terms/using no more than two search fields
  2. Free Form if searching more than two terms/using more than two search fields or if you choose to use Boolean login
2. Using the International Class field code, type the code you found earlier in the ID Manual
3. Using the Design Code field code, type the code you found earlier in the Design Search Code Manual
4. There are numerous other field codes one can use to limit the search even more such as whether it is live or dead, who owns the mark, or searching a word if there may be a word with the image.