Do I need a comprehensive trademark search?
First off, what is a comprehensive trademark search?
A comprenhensive trademark search encompasses searching the USPTO database for registered and pending federal trademarks, all state trademark databases, the internet, and any common law trademarks.
Each state has it’s own trademark database. States however do NOT check other state databases before they will give you a trademark in their state. So if there is a ABC123 Bagel Shop in Florida and you want to open one in Nebraska, Nebraska will check to make sure there is no ABC123 Bagel Shop in Nebraska then give you the green light!
You may have seen the term preliminary trademark search before. Typically this can mean simply searching the USPTO database and a google search.
You certainly can and should do your own google search as it is easy to complete yourself and free when starting your journey towards protecting yourself and once you get legal involved (hey that’s us!) we will help you with the next steps.