The Everything Inventions & Patents Book: Turn Your Crazy Ideas into Money-Making Machine by Barbara Russell Pitts & Mary Russell Sarao

Author:Barbara Russell Pitts & Mary Russell Sarao
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: ebook, book
Publisher: Adams Media
Published: 2011-06-24T00:00:00+00:00

A service mark is the same thing as a trademark except that it identifies and distinguishes the source of a service rather than a product. The terms trademark and mark are used interchangeably for both goods and services. If your product is not federally registered, you may legally use the symbols ™ or SM for your product or service.

Trademark Searching

Trademark searching can be done, for free, on the USPTO database. Just look for the link to the trademark database on the USPTO's home page. Unlike the patent database, all trademark filings, both registered and pending, are available for searching. By utilizing the different methods offered, it is possible to do a fairly thorough search on your own, particularly if what you are searching is a word, phrase, or some combination of words.

Professional trademark search firms have specific software that allows them to perform a more thorough search than you ever could. In addition, their years of experience have taught them tricks to searching that those of us not trained in searching would never know to do. If you have any doubt about the thoroughness of your own search, it would be wise to invest in a professional trademark search. You may especially need some professional help if you are searching for logos or drawings.

When you are searching a name, an important thing to remember is that trademarks are often distinguished by the way that they sound, rather than how they are spelled. For example, if you are searching for a trademark using the word clean, you will also need to look for unusual spellings that could sound exactly the same, such as “Kleen,” “Klean,” or other variations.

You may notice on the trademark database that there is often more than one live trademark with exactly the same name. How is this possible? If the trademarks are on products or services that are obviously not similar, they may both be awarded the same trademark name. An example of this would be the words hand gliders. You will find at least two live trademarks for those two words in combination. One trademark is for a dental instrument and the other is for a miniature kite. These two categories are so obviously different that there is no chance of mistaking one for the other. So they are both allowed to use the exact same trademark for their very different products. If there were any similarities between the two, one trademark would have been refused registration.

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