How to Check If a Name Is Trademarked

So, you have a great name for your new business or product. That's a huge first step. But before you get too attached—before you buy the domain, print business cards, or launch a single social media post—there's a critical question you need to answer: is the name already trademarked?

A quick, free preliminary search is your first line of defense. You can use databases like the USPTO's TESS for U.S.-based marks or WIPO's Global Brand Database for a more international view. This initial check helps you spot any direct, obvious conflicts right away, potentially saving you a world of trouble down the road.

Why You Absolutely Must Check for Trademarks Before Launch

Launching a brand is exhilarating. All that hard work is finally paying off. But imagine the gut-wrenching feeling of receiving a cease-and-desist letter just as you're gaining momentum. It happens more often than you'd think.

Failing to properly vet your chosen name isn't just a minor oversight; it's a massive business risk. You could pour thousands of dollars and countless hours into building brand recognition—logos, websites, marketing campaigns—only to be legally forced to tear it all down. This means starting over from square one, losing all the goodwill you've earned, and thoroughly confusing your customers.

The Real-World Consequences of Infringement

The fallout from a trademark dispute goes far beyond the headache of a rebrand. An infringement claim can quickly spiral into a full-blown lawsuit, draining your finances and pulling your focus away from what really matters: growing your business. For a startup or small company, the legal fees alone can be devastating.

Then there’s the reputational damage, which can be much harder to fix. Being publicly called out for infringing on another company’s intellectual property can seriously erode trust with customers, partners, and investors. It suggests a lack of diligence that can haunt you for years.

Key Takeaway: A trademark search isn't just a legal box to check. It's a foundational business strategy that protects your investment, secures your brand's future, and prevents costly legal battles from derailing your progress.

The global trademark landscape is getting more crowded by the day. By 2026, the number of active trademarks worldwide is projected to shoot past 100 million—a jaw-dropping 150% increase from just 2016. This explosion in registered marks makes finding a truly unique, available name harder than ever.

Protecting Your Investment from Day One

At its core, checking for trademarks is about smart, proactive risk management. It gives you the confidence to build your brand on a solid, legally sound foundation. Skipping this step opens you up to a host of preventable problems.

Failing to conduct a thorough search is a gamble with high stakes. The table below outlines the primary risks you expose your business to when you launch a name without proper clearance.

Key Risks of Skipping a Trademark Search

Investing a little time and effort upfront to clear your name is one of the smartest business decisions you can make. It gives you the peace of mind to grow your brand without constantly looking over your shoulder. For a deeper dive into the legal nuances, explore our complete guide on trademark law.

Conducting a US Search with the USPTO Database

When you’re ready to see if your name is available in the United States, your first stop should be the Trademark Electronic Search System (TESS). This is the official database run by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Yes, the interface looks a bit dated, but it's the most authoritative and free resource for checking registered and pending trademarks.

Diving in can feel a little intimidating at first. My advice? Start simple. The USPTO offers several search options, but for an initial knockout search, the Basic Word Mark Search is all you need. It’s perfect for quickly checking if your exact name is already in use.

This first pass is a critical step in the process, as shown in this straightforward view of the USPTO's search portal.

The clean, no-frills design gets right to the point—it's your starting line for the entire trademark clearance journey.

Moving Beyond an Exact Match Search

Finding no exact match is a great sign, but you're not out of the woods yet. Trademark law is designed to prevent consumer confusion, which means infringement isn't just about identical names. It also covers names that are "confusingly similar." This is where your search needs to get a bit more creative.

Start thinking like a potential customer.

• Phonetic similarities: If your name is "Kwik Kopy," you absolutely have to search for "Quick Copy."
• Alternative spellings: Think "Color" vs. "Colour" or "Lite" vs. "Light."
• Plurals and singulars: Check for both "Widget" and "Widgets."

The whole point is to uncover any mark that sounds like yours or has a similar commercial impression, as these are the ones that could cause you headaches down the road. This is where you might want to graduate to the Structured or Free Form search options in TESS. They give you more granular control to hunt for those tricky variations a basic search won't catch.

Interpreting Early Search Results

As you start digging, you'll see trademarks listed with different statuses, most commonly "LIVE" or "DEAD."

• A LIVE mark is active and registered. These are your biggest potential roadblocks, especially if they operate in a similar industry.
• A DEAD mark means the registration has expired or was abandoned. While this seems like a green light, don't celebrate just yet. The original owner might still have common law rights if they've continued using the name in commerce.

It's also crucial to appreciate the sheer volume of new marks being filed. The USPTO recently received nearly 765,000 trademark applications in a single fiscal year. That firehose of new filings means the database is always in flux, making a thorough search more challenging than ever.

Pro Tip: Don't stop at the name. Always click into the search results to read the "Goods and Services" description. A trademark for "Aura" used for accounting software is entirely different from an "Aura" trademark for a line of scented candles. The real conflict happens when the products or services are closely related.

Following these steps gives you a solid foundation for your initial clearance work. For a deeper dive into these complexities, our complete beginner's guide on how to do a trademark search is a great next read.

Taking Your Trademark Search Global

If you have any plans to operate beyond your home country's borders, a US-only trademark search won't cut it. You're only seeing one piece of a much larger puzzle. To truly check if a name is trademarked on a global scale, you need to roll up your sleeves and dive into international databases.

This isn't just a box-ticking exercise; it's a critical step for any business planning to sell products, offer services, or build a reputation abroad.

A fantastic starting point for this global investigation is the World Intellectual Property Organization, or WIPO. Their free Global Brand Database is an absolute powerhouse, pulling records from dozens of national and international trademark offices into one place. Think of it as your first-pass screening tool for the entire world.

Mastering WIPO's Global Brand Database

The beauty of WIPO's database is its efficiency. Instead of hopping between individual country websites—each with its own quirks and language barriers—you can cast a wide net from a single search bar. It lets you filter your search by key criteria like country, image, and even the Nice Classification for goods and services.

Let's say you're planning to launch a new software product in the UK and Australia. You can easily tailor your WIPO search to just those jurisdictions. This focused approach saves you from drowning in irrelevant results from markets you have no intention of entering.

The interface is clean and straightforward, making it easy to get started.

From this one portal, you can begin exploring a vast collection of international trademark records.

Digging Deeper into Key National Databases

While WIPO is an invaluable first stop, it’s not the final word. It doesn't aggregate every trademark from every single country. For true due diligence, especially in your most critical target markets, you have to go directly to the source: the national databases.

Given the sheer volume of filings in certain economic powerhouses, this step is non-negotiable.

Consider this: Mainland China recently dominated global trademark filings with a staggering 6.76 million applications in a single year, with the United States and India following. This level of activity, detailed in a report on global trademark trends, shows exactly why direct searches in these high-volume regions are essential for a complete picture.

If you have global ambitions, there are a few national databases you’ll likely need to check directly:

• European Union (EUIPO): If Europe is on your roadmap, searching the European Union Intellectual Property Office is a must. A single EU trademark registration provides protection across all 27 member states, making it a powerful asset.
• China (CNIPA): Given its massive market and first-to-file system, a direct search of the China National Intellectual Property Administration database is critical. In China, whoever files the trademark first generally owns it, regardless of who used it first in commerce.
• India (IP India): As a booming economy with a 10% average annual growth in trademark applications over the last decade, India is another vital jurisdiction. Searching the IP India portal is a smart move for any brand looking to enter this dynamic market.

Yes, this direct approach takes more effort. Each national database has its own interface and search protocols. But it's the only way to get a truly accurate view of the trademark landscape in your target countries, ensuring your brand is secure as you expand.

How to Interpret Your Search Results

Finding a name that looks or sounds like yours in a trademark database can be disheartening, but don't panic just yet. It’s not necessarily a dealbreaker. The real work is just beginning—you need to figure out if that similar mark is a genuine legal roadblock. The entire analysis boils down to a single legal principle: likelihood of confusion.

This concept is all about one question: would an average person, seeing these two names, be confused into thinking the products or services come from the same company? To answer that, trademark offices and courts weigh several factors, but two of them carry the most weight.

The Two Most Critical Factors

First up is the similarity of the names themselves. This isn't just about identical spelling. You have to think about how the names look, how they sound, and the general vibe or impression they give off. For instance, a name like "Kwik Kopy" is phonetically the same as "Quick Copy," which makes them confusingly similar even with the creative spelling.

The second critical piece is the relationship between the actual goods or services being sold. This is where context is king. The more closely related the products are in the marketplace, the greater the risk of confusion.

Here's the thing: A trademark doesn't give you a total monopoly on a word. It only gives you the exclusive right to use that name for a specific set of goods or services. That’s why you can have a "Delta" for faucets and a "Delta" for airlines, and everyone understands they are two different things.

Let's walk through a real-world scenario. Say you want to launch a new line of high-end perfumes under the brand name "Aura." Your search flags an existing trademark for "Aura," but it's held by a software development company. In this case, there's almost no likelihood of confusion. It’s a huge stretch to think a customer buying perfume would assume it’s made by a B2B software firm.

But what if your search found "Aura" was already trademarked for scented candles or a line of body lotions? Now you’ve got a problem. Perfumes and lotions are sold in the same stores, marketed to the same people, and often produced by the same parent companies. That kind of direct overlap is a major red flag.

Understanding Trademark Status

As you sift through your search results, you'll also notice different statuses next to each trademark entry. Not every result poses the same level of threat, so you need to know what they mean.

• Live/Registered: This is the big one. It's an active, legally enforceable trademark. If this mark is for a product or service in your field, it represents the highest risk.
• Pending/Under Examination: This means someone else has already filed an application, and it's in line waiting for a USPTO examiner to review it. While it isn't registered yet, the applicant has a priority date. If their application gets approved, it will likely block yours.
• Dead/Abandoned: The registration has expired, or the application was rejected. This might look like a green light, but tread carefully. The original owner might still have "common law" rights if they've been using the name continuously in commerce. You need to do a little more digging to be sure the mark is truly out of use, not just unregistered.

Learning to check if a name is trademarked is much more than just typing a name into a search bar. The real skill is in learning to read the results. By focusing on the similarity of the marks and the relationship between the goods, you can start to get a much clearer picture of your actual risk.

Knowing When to Hire a Professional

Running a DIY search using free tools like TESS and WIPO is a fantastic and necessary first step. Honestly, it’s the best way to quickly weed out names with glaring, obvious conflicts. This initial diligence saves you a ton of time and creative heartache.

But here’s the reality: relying only on those free searches is a bit like doing your own home inspection without being a contractor. You can spot the peeling paint and leaky faucets, but you might miss the serious foundation issues hiding beneath the surface.

Think of it this way: your initial search will tell you if someone else already registered "AquaBlue" for a line of sparkling water. What it won't tell you is if another company owns "AquaBleu" for bottled juices, which a court could still find confusingly similar, landing you in a legal mess.

What Free Searches Can Miss

Public databases are powerful, but they have their limits. They simply don’t paint the full picture you need for true confidence in your brand name. This is where a professional search goes so much deeper.

For instance, a DIY search will almost certainly miss:

• Common Law Trademarks: These are brands that have established rights just by using their name in business over time, even without a federal registration. They won't pop up in a USPTO search, but they can absolutely sue for infringement in their geographic area.
• State-Level Registrations: Many businesses only register their trademark within a single state. While this might seem like less of a threat, it could completely block you from operating in that specific region.
• Very Recent Filings: It can take weeks, sometimes even months, for a newly filed trademark application to be indexed and appear in public databases. A professional has access to tools that see these filings much sooner.

A trademark attorney’s real value isn't just in finding potential conflicts—it's in interpreting them. They give you a formal legal opinion on your name’s viability, assessing the actual risk based on years of experience with infringement cases. This expertise helps you make a calculated business decision, not just an educated guess.

Making the Call to Invest in an Attorney

So, when do you really need to bring in an expert? If your own search comes up completely clear and you're launching a small, local business with relatively low stakes, you might feel comfortable proceeding on your own.

However, hiring a trademark attorney becomes non-negotiable if:

• Your brand has national or international ambitions.
• You're about to invest significant capital into branding, marketing, and inventory.
• Your search uncovers similar—but not identical—marks, and you need to understand the real-world risk of "likelihood of confusion."

An attorney-led search provides a layer of assurance that a free search just can't match. If you’re serious about building a brand that lasts, understanding the steps to register a trademark with professional guidance is a critical part of the process. Think of it as an investment that protects your name, your money, and your future.

Your Top Trademark Search Questions, Answered

Even after you've run a few searches, some practical questions always seem to surface. It's completely normal. The world of intellectual property can feel like a maze, but getting a handle on a few key concepts will empower you to make much smarter decisions for your brand.

Let's clear up some of the most common points of confusion I see people run into.

Trademarks, Copyrights, Patents: What's the Real Difference?

The most fundamental mix-up is between these three. It helps to think of them as guards for different types of creative and business assets.

A trademark is all about your brand identity. It protects the things customers use to find you—your company name, a product name, or that logo you spent weeks perfecting.

A copyright, on the other hand, protects a specific, tangible creative work. This could be the text on your website, a photograph you took, or the manuscript for your book.

Finally, a patent is for inventions. It protects a unique process, a machine, or a new chemical compound.

Let’s put this into a real-world scenario. Imagine you're launching a new brand of gourmet coffee:

• The brand name, "Morning Ritual Roasters," and its unique logo would be protected by a trademark.
• The beautiful photography on your packaging and the descriptive text about your beans are covered by copyright.
• If you developed a groundbreaking new de-caffeination process, you'd protect that invention with a patent.

Navigating Tricky Search Scenarios

A question I get all the time is about "dead" or abandoned trademarks. Someone finds a perfect name, but the search shows its status is dead. Can they use it?

My advice is to proceed with extreme caution. A dead mark simply means its federal registration has lapsed. It doesn't mean the original owner stopped using it. They could still have what are called "common law" rights just by continuing to do business under that name. Before you even think about adopting it, you have to be certain the name is truly out of use in the marketplace, which can sometimes require a professional to investigate properly.

Another major point of confusion is state vs. federal protection. Registering your LLC or corporation with your state is not the same as getting a federal trademark. State registration just keeps another business from using your exact name in that state. It offers zero protection nationwide and won't stop a federal trademark owner from suing you for infringement.

Federal registration through the USPTO is what gives you strong, nationwide rights and a much higher level of security.

How much does it cost to check if a name is trademarked?

Doing it yourself on public databases like the USPTO’s TESS is completely free—it just costs you your time. For a truly comprehensive search and a formal legal opinion from a trademark attorney, however, you can expect to invest anywhere from a few hundred to several thousand dollars. The cost really depends on how deep the search needs to go. While it's an upfront expense, hiring a professional gives you a much higher degree of certainty that your brand is on solid legal ground.

Ready to find a name that's not just creative but also legally clear? NameRobot's Trademarkly tool is built to give you instant trademark checks, helping you vet your ideas quickly and move forward with confidence.

Start your journey toward a safe and memorable brand name today at https://namerobot.com.