Trademark search before applying for a trademark
What is a trademark search?
If you want to protect a company name, a product name or a logo as a trademark, you should carry out a trademark search (or have one carried out) before applying for a trademark.
This is because the German Patent and Trademark Office (DPMA) does not check whether an applied-for trademark conflicts with existing identical or similar trademarks.
The purpose of the trademark search is therefore to ensure that the desired trademark is still available and sufficiently different from existing trademarks.
How is a trademark search carried out?
Depending on whether a German or an EU trademark is to be applied for, the trademark search consists of two types of search.
The identity search looks for identical or identical-looking brand names, logos and word/figurative marks.
The similarity search identifies trademarks that are similar to the desired trademark, in particular with regard to the visual, phonetic and conceptual design, as well as with regard to the goods and services applied for.
Where can you do research?
Various sources are available for trademark searches.
The databases of the trademark offices DPMAregister, TMview and eSearch plus are suitable for identity searches.
As far as similarity searches are concerned, it has proven successful in practice to commission specialist service providers to carry out similarity searches.
The results of these searches are then reviewed by a lawyer specializing in trademark law, ideally a specialist lawyer for intellectual property law.
Über Justus Kreuels:
Justus Kreuels, Patentanwalt und European Patent Attorney, studierte Maschinenbau an der Technischen Universität München (TUM) und an der Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Hochschule Aachen (RWTH). Er setzt sich verstärkt für die Durchsetzung von Schutzrechten aus dem Bereich Mobilfunk, Internet of Things (IoT), Robotik, etc. in Deutschland ein.