To check if a company name is trademarked, you search three places: the federal trademark database run by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, the business and trademark registries in every state where you plan to operate, and the open web for unregistered names already in commercial use. Miss any one of them and you can still walk into an infringement claim.
One clarification first, because it trips up almost everyone starting this research. Business names are not protected by copyright. The U.S. Copyright Office states plainly that names, titles, and slogans contain too little authorship to qualify, and it will not register them.1U.S. Copyright Office. Circular 33 – Works Not Protected by Copyright The right body of law is trademark, which identifies the source of goods or services and distinguishes one business from another.2United States Patent and Trademark Office. Trademark, Patent, or Copyright Searching copyright databases for a company name will turn up nothing useful. What follows is how to search the databases that matter.
Get Your Search Terms Ready First
A useful search is more than typing your name into one box. Before you start, build a short list of variations: alternate spellings, phonetic equivalents, and abbreviations that sound like your proposed name. If your brand includes a logo or stylized lettering, note the visual elements so you can also search using the USPTO’s design search codes, which group images by type (stars, animals, geometric shapes, and so on).3United States Patent and Trademark Office. Design Search Codes
Then identify your industry, because trademark rights attach to specific categories of goods and services. The International (Nice) Classification splits commerce into 45 classes, with classes 1 through 34 covering goods and 35 through 45 covering services.4United States Patent and Trademark Office. Nice Agreement Current Edition Version – General Remarks, Class Headings and Explanatory Notes A clothing brand and a software company can sometimes share a similar name because they sit in different classes. Knowing your class before you search keeps you from panicking over an irrelevant match or missing a real competitor in your exact space.
Search the Federal Trademark Database
The USPTO runs a free public search tool at uspto.gov/trademarks/search. It contains every federal trademark application and registration, active or expired. You can run a basic word mark search or filter by design code, Nice class, owner name, or filing date.
Start with your exact name, then work through every variation on your list. Phonetic matches count. Two names do not have to be spelled the same way to create a legal conflict. The standard is “likelihood of confusion”: whether an ordinary consumer would mistakenly believe the goods or services come from the same source. The USPTO weighs the similarity of the marks themselves, the similarity of the goods or services, and the overlap in sales channels.5Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1125 – False Designations of Origin, False Descriptions, and Dilution Forbidden A name that sounds like an existing mark and covers similar products is a problem, even if the spellings differ.
Reading the Results
Each hit shows the mark, its current status, the owner, the goods or services covered, and the filing and registration dates. Look at status first. “Issued and Active” is a live registration with full legal force. “Published for Opposition” is the final review stage before registration and should be treated almost the same. “Awaiting Examination” and “Under Examination” mean an application is pending, which is still a potential conflict.6United States Patent and Trademark Office. Common Status Descriptors
“Abandoned,” “Cancelled,” or “Expired” marks are no longer active federal registrations. Do not treat them as clear paths. The prior owner may still be using the name in commerce, which can create common law rights even without a federal filing. A dead registration is information, not a green light.
Check State Business and Trademark Registries
Federal records do not capture everything. Each state maintains its own registry of business entities (corporations, LLCs, partnerships), and many also maintain a separate state trademark registry. Both are usually available through the Secretary of State or whichever agency handles business filings, and the search portals let you filter by name, entity type, and status.
These are two different things. Registering an LLC name with the Secretary of State reserves that exact name for corporate filings in that state; it does not give you trademark rights. A state trademark registration does provide legal protection, but only within that state. Most states follow some version of the Model Trademark Bill, mirroring federal concepts at the state level, and registration fees are generally modest, roughly $10 to $70 per class.
If you plan to do business in more than one state, search the registries in every state where you will operate. A name that is clear in one state may already be taken in another.
Search for Unregistered (Common Law) Uses
This is where most people cut corners, and where conflicts tend to hide. A business does not need to register a trademark with the USPTO or any state agency to have legal rights to a name. Simply using the name in commerce creates common law rights, and those rights are enforceable under state unfair competition law and under federal law.5Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1125 – False Designations of Origin, False Descriptions, and Dilution Forbidden
Search the way a customer would. Type your proposed name into the major search engines, check social media platforms, and look through industry-specific directories and online marketplaces. You are looking for any business actively using a similar name to sell goods or services in your industry. A company with a live website, active social accounts, and customer reviews has likely built common law rights even without a single government filing.
Domain records add another layer. ICANN’s registration data lookup tool (formerly WHOIS) lets you see whether a domain matching your proposed name is registered and who owns it.7ICANN Lookup. About ICANN’s Registration Data Lookup Tool A registered domain does not by itself create trademark rights, but it is a strong signal that someone is using or planning to use the name commercially.
One limit to keep in mind: common law rights only reach the geographic area where the name is actually used. A coffee shop using a name in Portland does not automatically have rights to that name in Miami. If you plan to operate nationally or online, though, geographic overlap becomes much harder to avoid, which is one of the strongest reasons to file for federal registration once a name clears.
What to Do If You Find a Match
Finding a similar name does not automatically mean you have to abandon yours. Your options depend on how close the match is and how much your markets overlap.
- Different industry, different customers: two marks can sometimes coexist when they cover unrelated goods or services and share no customer base. A landscaping company and a software startup with similar names may never confuse anyone.
- Close match, same industry: the highest-risk scenario. If a live mark covers goods or services similar to yours, changing your name early is almost always cheaper than fighting later.
- Dead registration, no visible current use: the most favorable case. The prior owner may have abandoned the mark, but confirm through thorough common law searching before you commit.
For anything other than a clearly dead mark in an unrelated industry, a trademark attorney is worth the money. A professional clearance opinion generally runs $200 to $500 and covers federal, state, and common law sources in more depth than a self-directed search. An attorney can also weigh the likelihood-of-confusion factors in context and give you a realistic risk read before you spend on branding.
What Getting This Wrong Costs
Using a name that turns out to be trademarked is not just an administrative problem. Under federal law, a trademark owner who proves infringement can recover your profits from the infringing sales, their own damages, and the costs of the suit. Courts can increase damages up to three times the actual amount, and in cases involving counterfeit marks, treble damages become the default. In exceptional cases the court can also award attorney fees to the winning side.8Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1117 – Recovery for Violation of Rights On top of the money, you will almost certainly be ordered to stop using the name, which means rebranding everything from your website to your packaging.
Once the Name Is Clear, Lock It In
When your clearance search comes back clean, filing a federal trademark application secures your priority date. You do not have to be selling yet. The USPTO accepts intent-to-use applications under Section 1(b) of the Lanham Act, which reserve a name before launch on a sworn statement that you genuinely intend to use the mark in commerce.9United States Patent and Trademark Office. Trademark Applications – Intent-to-Use (ITU) Basis
The base filing fee is $350 per class of goods or services.10United States Patent and Trademark Office. USPTO Fee Schedule With an intent-to-use application, you will later pay $150 per class when you file proof that you have started using the mark, plus $125 per class for each extension of time if you need longer to launch.11United States Patent and Trademark Office. Trademark Fee Information Federal registration gives you nationwide protection, a legal presumption that you own the mark, public notice, and the right to use the ® symbol. It is the natural next step after the search work above.