Do you want to search for trademarks on your own?

When you want to launch a new brand in the market one of the key moment is to be sure that there is no other identical or similar marks to yours. This is a crucial moment because otherwise after your launch you can be accused of infringement of rights by owners of earlier trademarks.

It’s not enough to check for such earlier marks just before the launch, it’s much better if you do this throughout the brand-building process because you will be able to make the necessary changes in your name without losing time at the last moment.

You have two main options to search for trademarks. The first one is to ask the relevant Patent Office to do that, which is possible because most of the Offices offer such a service. The downside here is that for every search you need to pay a fee and to lose some time due to the fact that such search reports are not instantaneous.

The alternative is to do this search on your own. Is this possible? Yes, it is. Most of the Patent Offices have free and open online databases for trademarks because this information is public. You can check them searching for your trademark.

However, you need to know some of the basic principles of trademark protection and how these database works and their nitty-gritty.

If you want to learn how to do such searches and to save time and money you can check this new Udemy course on this topic which will be launch very soon. It will teach you to perform trademark searches for the territories of the US, Canada, the UK, Republic of Ireland, Australia and New Zealand.

For early birds that sign up, there will be free coupons.

For more information here.

You can search trademarks by images in Ireland and Slovakia

EUIPO announced the new improved capabilities of TMView trademark databases, which now give options for image search of trademarks in Ireland and Slovakia. In that way, the number of countries, that allow such access to their local databases for implementation of such searches, become 13.

The option for visual search is a relatively new one but on the other hand quite useful because it gives more ground for better assessment in the case of trademark prior searches.

For more information here.

AI will help with searching trademark images

As a recent move, WIPO has announced AI improvements in its software for searching trademark images.

According to the information, the new software will increase significantly the accuracy of the results.

The new technology results in a narrower and more precise group of potentially similar marks, facilitating greater certainty in strategic planning for brand expansion into new markets. With fewer results to scrutinize, this also translates into labor-cost savings for trademark examiners, attorneys and paralegals, industry practitioners and researchers. 

In order to be used you need to enter the Global Brand Database and to choose Concept Strategy from the Image Tab.

WIPO gives a concrete example for the abilities of the new AI software:

Latin American invasion regarding important IP tools

For all of us who are interested in searching for trademarks and industrial designs, a good news has come from EUIPO which announced that several Latin American countries joined important IP tools.

First and foremost Uruguay joined TMView database for trademarks and DesignView database for designs. Apart from this Honduras joined DesignView too.

In brief, this means that national trademarks from Uruguay and national designs from Uruguay and Honduras will be accessible through both databases which by itself is a real advantage.

In addition to that El Salvador and Costa Rica joined the TMClass database responsible for harmonization of goods and services for the purposes of filing trademark applications.

For more information here.