How to Do a Trademark Search

Before you dive in, you'll need to learn how the Trademark Electronic Search System (TESS) works. Start by navigating to uspto.gov/trademark.

Under the "Search Trademarks" heading, you'll see an option that says "How to use the Trademark Electronic Search System (TESS)." Click on this.

You'll be taken to a page with links to helpful tips for starting your search. These include directions on how to use the basic word mark search function, how to perform a structured word and/or design mark search, and how to conduct a free-form word and/or design mark search. Read through this content.

Once you have reviewed the instructions, click the link on the same page to access the TESS. This is the federal trademark database. The system does not necessarily contain all trademark information, but it will display any federal records in relation to the trademark that you are seeking (if any exist).

You'll be able to conduct a basic word mark search (recommended for new users), a structured word and/or design mark search, or a free-form word and/or design mark search.

Regardless of which type of search you conduct, you'll need to enter your search term(s). If you're a first-time user who's performing a basic search, you'll also need to indicate whether the results should include living and/or dead trademarks; whether the results should include singulars and plurals, or just the former; whether the results should contain any, all, or the exact search terms; and what other information should be displayed.

You'll want to see whether any trademarks exist. If there are no results for your search term, the screen will display a message that says "No TESS records were found to match the criteria of your query." In this case, you may want to repeat the search using a different term(s).

The absence of a trademark in the federal TESS database does not necessarily mean that the trademark you want to secure is available. After you have checked with the United States Patent and Trademark Office, you should check state records.

Most of the time, records of a trademark at the state level are stored and managed by the Secretary of State. Navigate to your Secretary of State's departmental website for more information and to conduct an online search.