To check if a brand name is taken, start with a free search of the federal trademark database at USPTO.gov, then work outward through state business registries, unregistered common law users, domain name records, and, if you sell abroad, international trademark databases. A name can be legally claimed at any of these layers, and only the first one shows up in the federal system. Clearing all of them before you spend money on logos, packaging, or incorporation is the point of the exercise.
Search the Federal Trademark Database
The United States Patent and Trademark Office runs a free online search system where anyone can look up existing federal registrations and pending applications.1United States Patent and Trademark Office. Search Our Trademark Database The older TESS system was retired and replaced with an updated tool at the same USPTO website. No account is required. Enter your proposed name and review the results for any marks that look, sound, or mean something similar to yours.
Exact matches aren’t the whole picture. Federal trademark law blocks registration of any mark likely to cause confusion with an existing one.2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 US Code 1052 – Trademarks Registrable on Principal Register; Concurrent Registration That standard turns on the overall commercial impression, not just identical spelling. “BluWave” and “BlueWaive” could block each other if they’re used for similar products. So try phonetic variations, alternate spellings, and foreign-language translations of your name. Two marks can coexist if they operate in completely different industries, but within the same product category the resemblance doesn’t have to be close to cause a problem.
Check the status of each result. A “live” mark is actively protected. A “dead” mark has been abandoned or cancelled and generally won’t block your application, though the original owner may retain residual common law rights if they never actually stopped using it. Focus on live marks in the same goods-and-services category as your business.
Narrow Your Search by Class
Trademarks are organized into 45 international classes under the Nice Classification system. Classes 1 through 34 cover goods, and Classes 35 through 45 cover services.3United States Patent and Trademark Office. Nice Agreement Current Edition Version – General Remarks, Class Headings and Explanatory Notes Class 25 covers clothing, footwear, and headwear.4World Intellectual Property Organization. Class 25 – Nice Classification Class 42 covers scientific and technological services. Identifying the class your business falls under lets you filter the results down to marks that actually compete with yours instead of unrelated uses of the same word.
Is Your Name Even Protectable?
Finding a name “available” in a database won’t help if the name can’t be registered in the first place. Trademark law ranks names on a spectrum from strongest to weakest.5United States Patent and Trademark Office. Strong Trademarks
- Fanciful marks are invented words with no prior meaning, like “Kodak.” They get the broadest protection and are the easiest to register.
- Arbitrary marks are real words used in an unrelated context, like “Apple” for computers. Also strong and immediately registrable.
- Suggestive marks hint at a product quality without directly describing it, like “Netflix.” Registrable, though narrower.
- Descriptive marks describe the product itself, like “Cold and Creamy” for ice cream. These cannot be registered unless years of use have made consumers associate the name with your brand specifically.
- Generic terms, like “Computer Store” for a computer store, can never function as trademarks.
If your candidate name is descriptive or generic, the USPTO will refuse registration regardless of what the search turns up, and you’ll lose the filing fee. Names in the fanciful, arbitrary, or suggestive range are worth searching in the first place.
Check State Business Registries
Each state maintains its own business entity database through the Secretary of State’s office, and a name can be claimed at the state level even when no federal trademark exists. These registries track the legal names of LLCs, corporations, and partnerships formed in that state. The test is different from trademark law: a state registry asks whether a name is “distinguishable on the records” from existing entities, which is a simpler, more mechanical comparison than the federal likelihood-of-confusion standard.
Most state portals let you search for free. If the name is available, you can typically reserve it for a small fee while you prepare formation documents. Reservation fees generally fall in the $20 to $50 range, and the hold lasts a limited window, often 90 to 120 days. Registering a business entity name with your state is not the same as owning a trademark. It only means the state will let you incorporate under that name. Someone else could still hold a federal trademark on it and force you to rebrand.
Don’t Forget DBA Filings
Your business’s legal name is the one registered when you form your entity. A DBA, short for “doing business as,” is a separate registration that lets you operate under a different public-facing name. A sole proprietor named Jane Smith who sells products as “Sunshine Goods” would file a DBA. Many states and counties require these filings at the local level, and they don’t always appear in the Secretary of State’s main database.
That gap matters. Someone could be operating under your proposed name through a DBA that never surfaces in an entity search. Check your county clerk or recorder’s office for fictitious business name filings in addition to the state-level search. DBA filing fees vary by jurisdiction, often ranging from around $25 to $75.
Look for Unregistered Common Law Users
A business doesn’t need a federal registration to own enforceable trademark rights. Under the Lanham Act, rights arise the moment someone starts selling goods or services under a particular name in commerce.6Legal Information Institute. Lanham Act A small bakery that’s been using your proposed name for a decade in a regional market has “senior” rights in that area, and those rights can block your expansion into their territory even if you register federally first.
Finding these users takes ordinary internet research. Run the proposed name through major search engines. Check social media platforms for matching handles. Look at business directories and industry publications. None of these sources are definitive alone, but together they surface competitors that government databases miss entirely.
Check the Domain Name Too
Domain availability is a layer of its own. If someone has registered the .com version of your name and is running a legitimate business on it, that’s a common law use to account for even if they never filed a trademark application. The WHOIS database will show who registered the domain and when. If the domain is registered but sitting unused, the registrant may be squatting on it to sell it back to you at a markup.
Federal law gives established trademark owners a path against bad-faith domain registrations through the Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act.7Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 US Code 1125 – False Designations of Origin, False Descriptions, and Dilution Forbidden That protection helps you only if you already own a distinctive or famous mark, so a startup checking a name for the first time can’t rely on it. If the domain you want is taken, factor that into the branding decision now rather than after launch.
Search Internationally If You’ll Sell Abroad
If you have any plans to sell outside the United States, check whether your proposed name is registered in other countries. The World Intellectual Property Organization maintains the Global Brand Database, a free search tool covering international trademark registrations filed under the Madrid System along with marks from participating national trademark offices.8World Intellectual Property Organization. Global Brand Database You can search by keyword, image, or goods-and-services class.
An international registration doesn’t automatically block your use in the U.S., but it signals that the owner may later seek U.S. protection under the Madrid Protocol. If they file a Section 66(a) extension to the U.S., the USPTO examines it just like a domestic application. Finding the conflict during clearance is far cheaper than finding it in a legal dispute.
What Happens If You Skip the Search
The financial exposure from using a taken name is severe enough to justify the clearance work on its own. A trademark owner who finds you using their mark can pursue several remedies at once, and the costs compound.
Courts can issue injunctions ordering you to stop using the name entirely, which means rebranding your website, packaging, and marketing at your own expense. Under the Trademark Modernization Act, courts presume irreparable harm when a trademark owner shows likelihood of success on the merits, which makes injunctions easier for the plaintiff to obtain. On top of the injunction, a trademark owner can recover the profits you earned under the infringing name, their own actual damages from lost sales, and the costs of the lawsuit.
Cases involving counterfeit marks carry statutory damages ranging from $1,000 to $200,000 per counterfeit mark per type of goods or services. If a court finds the infringement was willful, the ceiling rises to $2,000,000 per mark.9Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1117 – Recovery for Violation of Rights Exceptional cases can also produce an award of attorney fees to the winning party. A careful name clearance costs a few hours of your time, or a few hundred dollars with professional help. Set against the alternative, that’s the cheapest insurance you’ll buy before launch.