Researching product and company names with the USPTO Trademark Electronic Search System

You've got a great idea for a startup. You've validated market demand and you have the ability to build the product and connections to sell it. Now you just need to find a name that isn't already being used by another company or product. Before you fall in love with a name you should make sure it doesn't conflict with an existing trademark. In this Recipe you'll use the U.S. Patent and Trade Office (USPTO) Trademark Electronic Search System (TESS) to search for existing trademarks for the name you've selected.

Start by navigating to the USPTO TESS database homepage. You'll see a button labeled Search our trademark database (TESS). Click that to access the search form.

The TESS database can be used to search for both word marks (trademarked words or phrases) and design marks (logos and other unique images companies have registered). For the purpose of this Recipe we're going to stick to searching for trademarks on words and phrases, so pick the first option, Basic Word Mark Search (New User).

The next screen is the search form itself. There are several options here, but since this search is just to get a broad sense of companies that might have registered trademarks similar to your desired startup name, leave the first radio button set to Plural and Singular. Set the second one to Live and Dead. While a dead trademark wouldn't normally present a conflict, if a trademark close to your startup name has lapsed it's helpful to know because the owner can still present a legal challenge even if they no longer own the trademark. Leave the other fields set to their default.

Enter your desired startup name in the Search Term field and press Enter or click Submit Query. As of the time of writing this Recipe, a search for Startup Recipes returns no results.

If you get this result for your startup name, it's an encouraging sign that you've identified a name that won't clash with an existing trademark. You'll still want an attorney to perform their own search before filing for the trademark, but you should feel comfortable starting to use the name or even registering the domain name.

If you search for a name that has related existing trademarks they'll be returned as rows in a table listing hte serial and registration numbers of the trademark, the word or words registered, an option to check details, whether the trademark is live or dead, and the classes of mark to which it applies. Below is the result of a search for Alphalab:

Click the link in the fourth row labeled TSDR. This will display a detail screen so you can learn more about the trademark. The first screen shows the mark, status, and relevant dates such as filing date and publication date.

Click the section labeled Mark Information to see details on any limitations that may apply to this trademark. Sometimes companies will register a trademark only in a specific font or specific color or colors.

Next click the section marked Goods and Services. Because so many words are common in business settings, trademarks for words and phrases typically must be registered for a specific scope. In the Alphalab example below the trademark scope is related to business services for startup companies. A company that wanted to use the trademark for a different purpose, such as laboratory equipment, might be able to register the trademark even though this one exists because each would focus on different, non-overlapping purposes.

It may not be important to you in a research phase, but if you want to see the trademark owner you can click to open the section labeled Current Owner(s) Information.

When you've reviewed the information in this trademark you can use the back arrow to return to the list of results and click the link labeled TSDR for a different result, and repeat until you have a sense of the scope and status of all of the trademarks that might potentially conflict with the name you're considering for your startup.

The research stage of a new startup venture is filled with possibilities and excitement. Finding a name for your concept can help propel your idea into reality, but if you fall in love with a name for your startup and it's already registered it will be a huge disappointment. It's worth doing some research on existing trademarks using the USPTO TESS database to see what other registered trademarks exist that might cause you problems down the road.