Why Our Trademark Searches Are Unique

One thing that makes our firm extremely special is the type of trademark search that we offer to our clients.  The trademark search we conduct is called a federal, state, and common law search. This looks through three different areas that could be a problem for the trademark you’re considering using.

A full federal trademark search (as opposed to something narrower, such as a “knock-out” search) is a thorough search of the USPTO’s trademark database. It looks for same or similar trademarks that might have been filed or registered before yours. Our search also looks at all 50 state government databases to make sure there’s not a trademark registered at the local level which could present an issue. Finally, we complete a common law trademark search.  This is a search for unregistered trademarks.  In the United States you need to be very careful about common law, or unregistered use of a same or similar trademark. If another company has been using a similar trademark to offer products or services, they have very enforceable rights, and can come back and try to cancel any registration that you may obtain.

So, why is the type of search we offer special? Just about the only other law firms offering this full search using professional grade software are large firms that charge thousands of dollars.  We get the search and application done for less than $1,000 in most cases. Our goal as a firm has always been to offer a high-quality search at a fraction of the cost of the larger law firms, and we continue to do that to this day.

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Josh Gerben, Esq.

Josh Gerben, Esq. is the founder and principal of Gerben IP. In 2008, Mr. Gerben started the firm to provide high-quality trademark services at reasonable prices. Today, he is recognized by the World Trademark Review as a top trademark filer, having registered over 7,500 trademarks. The contents of this blog are for informational purposes only and may not be relied on as legal advice.