วันอาทิตย์ที่ 25 มกราคม พ.ศ. 2552

The Best Guide On Free Trademark Search Available On The Web

By Jenni Snook

Do you think that you can undertake a free trademark search? There is a large number of websites online that can give some introductory information for no price at all, however the terms and conditions may not be so obvious.

What is the definition of a trademark? It can be either a word, name or even a symbol, that are filed with the law and defended by the law, which is used by a company on all the goods they manufacture to distinguish them from other companies' goods. The trademark gives exclusivity to the owner meaning that no other company can ever use it or use some kind of resemblance, otherwise, they could get punished by the law. Given these great advantages, one would be crazy not to register it as a trademark. In order to do all this was to undertake a search to see if a certain trademark is actually available for registration.

A method that costs nothing is to use the Internet to search online. Trademarks already registered are listed on many sites. It is important that the trademark that you intend to use must be unique and which will not be already in use elsewhere.

- In the United States, the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is the body that officially registers trademarks. On the website you can access the PT depository library and see if certain identifiable goods are available. However you will not be able to access information concerning registered trademarks in each state and DBA records.

- Websites of State Secretary. Most states have detailed databases made available online. These sites however, do not include details of federal trademarks, listings of other states and common-law databases. If you are visiting a state's website, do ensure that what you are looking at is an updated version and whether it can conduct an intelligent search.

- Yellow Pages. You can access their nationwide database by just entering the name of your business. There is no need to enter all other details asked for. Like the other websites, you will have to enter details of variations failing which the website does not conduct an intelligent search.

If you are not too pleased with the results of your search, then you can always seek help from professionals who do this type of work for a living. However, wouldn't you want to take advantage of the free resources online?

An application for registering a trademark can be filed with the USPTO. They will conduct their own search to ensure that no other similar or look alike trademark has been registered. It is not the job of the USPTO to serve the applicants. Their job is to protect existing trademarks. They will do this by ensuring that no new trademark infringes on existing registered ones.

You are obliged to do a lot of preliminary research before applying to get your trademark registered. You have the option of visiting depository libraries as well as conducting manual searches for trademarks that already exist. This may be done electronically via TESS. You can then monitor the progress of an application via TARR.

Before any trademark is registered, the USPTO has to ensure that existing registered trademarks do not stand to get infringed by your new application. If there is the slightest chance of this happening, the application is likely to be rejected. To avoid such an outcome, it is best that you conduct your own free trademark searches with this guide before you submit your application for registration.

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