A name goes on signage, packaging and a domain. Checking possible conflicts before committing to it can help you identify questions to resolve.
Where to search
IP Australia offers two search options on its page on searching existing trade marks: TM Checker, which gives feedback on how an application is likely to go, and Australian Trade Mark Search, which covers registered and pending marks and searches by words or by uploading an image.
Search wider than the exact name
Australian Trade Mark Search says word searching is very precise, and that an effective search should include plurals, common misspellings and marks that sound or look similar; image search returns results by visual similarity. The point it makes is that a search should find marks that are similar to yours, not only identical ones.
What you sell decides what matters
IP Australia’s page explains that examiners consider whether a mark is too similar to an existing one when used for the same or similar goods or services and may cause confusion, and separately whether a mark is distinctive rather than descriptive. So the search is only as good as your description of what you will actually sell.
What a clear search does not settle
Australian Trade Mark Search carries its own warning: results should not be relied upon, because an application is still examined, and that examination may reveal material you did not find. A register is also a register — it does not list every name in use in the country, so a clear result is not the same thing as nobody using it.
What to have ready
The exact spelling, and the variants you would also be upset to see. The logo file, if there is one. A plain description of the goods and services, in the words a customer would use. Where the name will appear, and what has already been printed, bought or registered.
Questions worth asking
Is anything on the register close enough to be a problem for what I sell? Is my name distinctive enough to register at all? What does this search not cover? What happens if I launch and somebody objects?
Read more about intellectual property. The checks worth making before engaging anybody are in what to check before you instruct a lawyer, and the guides explain how the directory is put together.
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