If your business plan includes marketing expenditures, your budget might be wasted if you do not first clear the name or logo you selected to identify your products or services. Many businesses have had to rebrand after discovering that their preferred trademark is already being used by a third party.
To get the most value out of your marketing efforts, consult with a trademark clearance search lawyer from the Trademark Law Firm PLLC before you launch your marketing. Attorney Patrick McSwain will analyze federal, state, and international resources to determine if another business already uses an identical or similar trademark, and will verify that the trademark you ultimately select will create the unique identity for your products or services.
Thorough Trademark Clearance Requires More Than an Internet Search
Even with robust artificial intelligence algorithms, an internet search for a trademark rarely uncovers all potential third-party uses of similar names or logos. Many small businesses, for example, do not have significant web or social media presences, and a simple internet search may miss those businesses. An experienced trademark clearance attorney can provide a more comprehensive search that will identify those businesses.
The most crucial step in the trademark process is a proper clearance search conducted by an attorney who looks through the federal and all state level databases. Google does not search these databases, therefore it cannot tell you if a name or trademark is available or already taken.
Most critically, the standard for trademark exclusivity is whether your name or logo is likely to cause confusion as a result of its similarity to a third party’s trademark. Under this standard, your proposed trademark can conflict with another trademark even if it is not identical. For proper trademark clearance, your lawyer will evaluate both identical and similar trademarks.
A Trademark Clearance Will Also Focus on Your Specific Products
All trademarks are specific to the goods or services they identify and the geographic and industry marketing channels in which they are sold. For example, a food supplement marketed to athletes with a trademark that includes the word “Energy” would likely not conflict with a battery product sold under a similar name to mobile phone users.
Different products and markets, however, can have large overlaps. You might be launching a new food product under a trademark that you have not seen in the retail food industry, only to later discover that a restaurant sells meals under a similar trademark.
Attorney Patrick McSwain can analyze the specific products and services identified in a trademark search and determine if that overlap might preclude clearance of your proposed trademark. When you get that clearance, you and your investors will have assurances that the financial resources you devote to marketing your products and services are providing value.
Call Our Trademark Clearance Search Attorney to Learn More
Your trademark will carry your brand identity to your entire consumer base. Retaining the services of a knowledgeable trademark clearance search lawyer is a cost-effective and efficient way to verify that the trademark you intend to attach to your products or services will create that unique identity without colliding with someone else’s trademark. You cannot complete this task with a simple Google search.
Attorney Patrick McSwain serves clients throughout the United States. Please call The Trademark Law Firm PLLC for more information and direct answers from Patrick to your questions about trademark clearance.