Search

Trademarks are crucial to branding because they symbolise the brand owners’ business goodwill and loyalty among consumers. Given the importance of trademarks in brand building, it is paramount that prior to commercially using a mark, brand owners at least carry out a search for registered marks and trademark applications that are similar or identical to the marks they intend to use for their products or services. Doing such a trademark search would allow brand owners to identify whether any other party has registered a similar or identical mark that could prevent them from commercially using it on their products or services, allowances. By performing the trademark search prior to commercially using the intended mark, brand owners have the option to modify and optimize their branding strategy before they invest significant time and resources in the mark. In addition, by carrying out a trademark search brand owners can also evaluate whether their mark is a weak mark (e.g., when the search results indicate that several similar marks are registered for similar products or services) or a strong one (e.g., when the search results show that no similar mark applications are found in the databases), and their chances of obtaining registration for such a mark. Depending on the trademark search results, the brand owners can modify their marks to make them stronger and ensure that their trademark applications result in quicker.