A Simplified Guide On The Process Of Trademark Search India

Introduction

In a world where copies are easily available, it is very important to register a trademark for your brand name. It safeguards the brand from unauthorized use. The first step before going for Trademark registration is to check if your Trademark is available. Many new business owners are often worried about how to search trademark names, how to check brand name availability, and so on. It is done by conducting a trademark search which informs whether the brand is available for registration. It also lets you know if some other person has already registered or applied for a similar brand name. We will further discuss the step-by-step guide on how to check trademark availability, it’s importance and related issues.

Why is it important to conduct a Trademark Search?

For checking trademark availability, you need to conduct a Trademark Search. When registering a trademark it is vital to try and create a unique trademark. However, unless you review the data, there is no way for you to know how unique your trademark really is. Also, until you check the data, there is always a possibility that you may be unintentionally violating someone else’s IPR rights.
Remember; if the trademark you are registering is very similar to somebody else’s, firstly you may face legal issues in the future. Also, that can lead to your trademark not getting registered. Most importantly, even if the registrar approves your trademark and it gets registered, if there are other  similar marks being used in the market, it will create difficulty for you in the long run to build a brand. Conducting a trademark search helps you resolve all these issues. It helps you know what can be Trademarked and what cannot.

How to check trademark availability?

Trademark search is an important part of trademark registration. Trademark search is the procedure by which one can search databases for information on registered trademark. In India, the website for trademark search is IP India. If you do not conduct trademark search properly then there is a greater chance of objection and rejection of the trademark application. Before proceeding further, it is best to know about trademark class search. Before performing a trademark search it is important to identify the appropriate trademark classes of goods and services. You may use the trademark class search tool provided below to identify class by searching for specific terms related to goods or services.

Let us briefly understand the framework of performing a search. A trademark search can be of two types on the official portal of IP India. The same is provided below –

• Wordmark search – You can perform a wordmark search by entering the trademark as it is. That is in the form of a combination of letters. Further, the user must also input the class details for performing a trademark search. The intention of performing this search is to check of all confusingly similar marks from the records of the trademark registry.
• Vienna Code Search – You can perform a Vienna code search by entering a six-digit code attributed to every element of artistic representation along with the class applicable to your product. After entering the details, a list of trademark/s appears on the screen based on the entered details.
• Phonetic Search – This type of search is similar to a wordmark search. One must enter the trademark corresponding to the field of ‘phonetic’ on the search page. Further, you need to enter the class details. A phonetic search retrieves all trademarks from the records of the trademark registry that are similar in pronunciation or sound to the searched trademark.

How to Check Trademark Availability

Let’s go through our step-by-step guide on how to check trademark availability.

Step 1: Selecting ‘trademark type’ for trademark search

The first step in our guide on how to check trademark availability is to select the class you want to register your Trademark in. Once the selection of class is done, the next step for checking brand name availability is explained in the below-mentioned steps. A comprehensive trademark search can be performed at the official website of IP India public search, at the official trademark search portal

• You can perform a comprehensive trademark search on the official trademark portal. Click on ‘Trademark search’ on the website and you will be redirected to a page where you can perform a name search.
  

Step 2: Performing the search

• Then comes the next step in our guide on how to check trademark availability. For ‘Search Type’, select ‘Wordmark’ from the drop-down list. After that, on the first row, you will find another drop-down list corresponding to the Wordmark. Select ‘Contains’ and beside it write your brand name in the given box. For example, if the brand name is ‘Legalwiz’ and the appropriate class is 42. Then, enter the details in the requisite fields and click the ‘Search’ button.

After clicking the search button, the results related to the exact searched term will appear on the screen.

If you have not already noticed there is a drop-down menu corresponding to the field of ‘wordmark’. There are three options in the drop-down menu, that is, ‘start with’, ‘contains’ and ‘match with’.

1. Start with – This search filter allows you to identify trademarks existing in the records that start with the details entered
   
2. Contains – This search filter lets you retrieve results consisting of all trademarks that contain the searched term.
   
3. Match with – This type of search filter allows you to retrieve results consisting of trademarks that match the details entered. 

Step 3: Understanding the search results obtained from trademark search

Based on the query, search results show.

The results of the search performed in the previous step are below. If you have performed a trademark search for the brand ‘Legalwiz’ and if you can see its existence in the records of the trademark registry then you may not proceed ahead with filing the trademark application. 

When you see a mark similar to your brand in search results, you should consider three most important things to check to understand its existence and validity among other things:

1. Primarily, check the ‘Application date’ field. It provides for the filing date of the trademark application.
   
2. Secondly, view details related to the ‘used since’ field. It provides the usage date of the trademark.
   
3. Thirdly, you should check the ‘valid upto’ field. This merely means that for how long until the renewal the trademark registry will keep this mark on the records of the trademark registry. 

Some other things worth considering can be the goods description and the type of logo.

Step 4: Performing a ‘Phonetic’ Search online on the official Search Portal

The next step in our how to check trademark availability guide is to conduct a phonetic trademark. You conduct this search to identify trademarks that are sound similar.

To perform a search for the same, you may select phonetic from the very first drop-down list against Search Type. Then enter the brand name and class as described above and search again as under –

• It is important to check the brand name phonetically because it may be that there are no similar brand names but there are brand names which sound similar.
  
• For example, if your brand name is “seez” and you do not find any similar results in the trademark search, but there is a trademark application or brand registration with “ciz”, then that result will show the same performance of a phonetic trademark search.
  
• The trademark registry will not approve the trademark application even if there is a phonetically similar brand name. So a phonetic check is a must.

This complete guide will help you to do a trademark search and decide whether to pursue trademark application filing with the same brand name or is there a need to think of other different and unique brand names due to similar brands found in the search. Applying for a Trademark after conducting a detailed Trademark search lets you expedite the Trademark process timeline.

Conclusion

So, if you are confused about how to search trademark names, how to check brand name availability etc, you can easily answer all of those questions by using our guide on how to check trademark availability. That said, we always recommend professional help. A professional possesses the required technical knowledge about trademark laws and industry practices. That helps in performing a comprehensive trademark as well as making an informed decision. However, the final decision of the approval of the trademark application remains with the Trademark Registry. Legalwiz.in has an experienced and reliable team of individuals who can solve your trademark registration-related queries. Feel free to contact us at support@legalwiz.in