Refusals turn on confusing similarity, which an exact-match search will never surface.
A clearance search asks one question: can you use and register this mark for these goods without running into somebody else. Answering it means judging similarity, not looking up a string.
Drawings from expired US patents. Lit: US 1,325,905, Alice H. Parker, Heating Furnace, filed 1918, granted 1919.
A conflict found after the packaging is printed costs a rebrand.
Refusals turn on likelihood of confusion, which asks whether two marks are confusingly similar in sound, appearance, or meaning across related goods. A mark that shares no letters with yours can still block it.
The federal register is also only part of the answer. Rights arise from use in commerce, so a business with no registration at all can still stop you in the area where it trades. A search that reads only the register misses them.
We look at the register, at state filings, and at what is actually on the market, and we give you a written read with the reasoning behind it, not a list of hits.
What a clearance search covers
- Live and pending federal registrations, including near matches
- Phonetic equivalents and alternate spellings
- State registrations and common-law use
- A written risk read, with the reasoning behind it
- Alternatives worth considering when the answer is bad
Questions we get about this.
What is a trademark clearance search?
A clearance search is a review of existing marks to judge whether a proposed name can be used and registered for particular goods or services without infringing someone else or being refused.
It goes beyond checking whether the exact name is taken, because the legal test is confusing similarity rather than identity.
Is a free trademark search enough?
A free search on the USPTO database is a sensible first step and will catch an identical mark in the same class. It is worth doing before you fall in love with a name.
It will not catch phonetic equivalents, similar marks in related classes, or unregistered common-law users. Those are where most real conflicts live, and judging them is the part that needs an attorney.
What happens if the search finds a conflict?
It depends how close the conflict is. Sometimes the answer is to narrow the goods and services description, sometimes to modify the mark, sometimes to seek consent from the other owner, and sometimes to pick a different name.
Finding out at this stage is the good outcome. The same conflict discovered after launch costs a rebrand, and discovered after a demand letter costs considerably more.
How long does a clearance search take?
Usually one to two weeks, depending on how common the term is and how many classes are involved. A distinctive coined word clears faster than an ordinary English word in a crowded category.
If you are working to a launch date, tell us the date when you send the mark.
Send the name before the packaging is printed.
Tell us the mark and what you sell under it. We will tell you what stands in the way.