Can I do my own trademark search?

Yes. You can do your own search of trademarks registered with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) at the USPTO website (http://www.uspto.gov). Or you can visit one of the Patent and Trademark Depository Libraries (PTDLs), available in every state. These libraries offer a combination of hardcover directories of federally registered marks and an online database of both registered marks and marks for which a registration application is pending. Most of these libraries also have step-by-step instructions for searching registered and pending marks.

In addition to searching for registered or pending marks, you may also use product guides and other materials available in these libraries to search for possibly conflicting marks that haven't been registered with the USPTO. This can be important because, even if a mark is unregistered, its existence could preclude you from:

• registering the same or confusingly similar mark in your own name, and
• using the mark in any part of the country or commercial transaction where customers might be confused.

To find the Patent and Trademark Depository Library nearest you, see USPTO's list at http://www.uspto.gov/go/ptdl.

How can I use the Internet for an informal trademark search?

In addition to searching for registered and pending marks in the USPTO's database at http://www.uspto.gov, you can now conduct a thorough search for unregistered marks by using an Internet search engine. For instance, by entering your proposed name in the search field on Google (http://www.google.com), you will get a report of every instance where the name appears on Web pages that the Google search engine has indexed. Because no search engine is 100% complete, an especially thorough search will include several additional search engines, such as MSN Search and Excite.

In addition, you may want to review merchandise at an online store. For example, if you are selecting a trademark for a new toy, you can visit "ToysRUs"at http://www.toysrus.com. Once there, you can browse hundreds of toys and do a keyword search for any toy trademark that is similar to yours. This same approach can be used for any type of product by clicking the shopping category link on one of the popular search engines, such as Yahoo.com.

Another helpful place to search for unregistered trademarks is the Thomas Register of Goods and Services, at http://www.thomasregister.com. You have to sign up as a member (free) before they will let you search.

These resources don't actually provide a list of unregistered trademarks. There is no such list anywhere. Rather, these sites list product and service names that qualify as trademarks because of how they are used to identify the underlying products or services in the marketplace.