Trademark clearance search

What is a trademark clearance search used for?

A clearance search is used to make the decisions that come before a filing, while changing course is still cheap. In practice it answers four questions:

• Whether to keep the name at all, before it goes on packaging, signage or a shopfront.
• Which classes to file in, and whether to narrow the specification to avoid an earlier mark.
• Whether an earlier mark is close enough to be worth approaching for a consent or a coexistence agreement instead of rebranding.
• Whether the brand is clear, when an investor or a buyer asks during due diligence.

It does not register anything and it does not stop somebody bringing a claim. It tells you which of those decisions you are about to get wrong. An earlier mark found now costs you the search fee. The same mark found after a competitor writes to you costs the rebrand.

Why the trademark office will not do this for you

EUIPO does not refuse your application because an identical mark already exists. It examines only whether the mark can function as a trademark at all, publishes it, and notifies the owners of earlier marks that they may wish to oppose. They have three months from publication to do it.

So you can pay €850, wait four months, register your mark, and still be attacked by a competitor who was there first. A search is what stops that.

The UKIPO does search and reports the results to you, but it also does not refuse on that basis.

What an available domain tells you

Almost nothing. Domain registries and trademark registers are separate systems. A name can be free on every extension and still be a registered EU trademark in your exact sector.

This is the most common and most expensive misunderstanding we see. Domain name vs trademark explains why.

What a search covers

An identical-mark search checks for exact matches. It is quick and cheap and it catches the obvious problems.

A full availability search also looks for similar marks, because trademark law stops confusingly similar names, not just identical ones. "Kwikfit" and "Quickfit" conflict. That search takes longer and costs more, and it is what you want before committing a budget to a brand.

Our EU search covers the EU register, national registers and international registrations designating the EU, and comes with a written opinion on the risk rather than a raw list of results. A list of 400 hits is not useful. The judgement about which three matter is the part you are paying for.

What it costs

Prices exclude VAT.

When to do it

Before you print anything, buy packaging, register a company under the name or file the application. The cost of changing a name rises sharply once it is in use, and it rises again once a competitor has written to you about it.

Next

• EU trademark registration
• Trademark classes explained
• Oppositions