You've settled on a logo. The colors work, the concept holds up, and you're close to filing and putting it on your storefront. Before you do, spend an afternoon making sure someone else doesn't already own something too close to it.
Skipping that step is how founders end up with an Amazon listing pulled overnight, an Etsy shop suspended, or a $350 USPTO base filing fee spent on a mark the examiner refuses. They happen because the name or the design collided with a registration that a short search would have surfaced.
This is a practical walkthrough for clearing your own brand logo in the US before you file. It's written for indie founders and solo sellers, not trademark departments, so it stays close to the tools you can actually use today. It is a starting point, not a substitute for professional clearance.
What Is a Trademark Search? #
A trademark search checks whether your logo, brand name, or slogan collides with marks that are already registered or pending. You run it to catch conflicts before they turn into platform takedowns, a refused application, or a rebrand you didn't budget for. A federal database search covers applications and registrations, not unregistered use, so it's one layer of clearance, not the whole of it.
A good search answers two questions. Is anyone already using a similar name for similar goods, and is anyone already using a similar design? Those are different searches with different tools, and clearing one doesn't clear the other.
Why Checking for Trademark Conflicts Matters #
The USPTO Trademarks Dashboard reports a metric called "Active registrations," the marks registered and maintained on the federal register; the count runs into the millions and changes constantly, so check the dashboard for the current figure. That's a large field to walk into blind, and it's the field your application gets measured against.
If you launch on top of an existing mark, a few things can follow:
- Marketplace takedown. Marketplaces such as Amazon and Etsy take intellectual property complaints from rights owners and can remove a reported listing.
- A refused application. If an examiner finds a likely conflict, your mark gets refused and that $350-per-class base filing fee doesn't come back (USPTO fee schedule; base fee for applications under §1/§44 in effect since January 18, 2025).
- A forced rebrand. Change the name or logo after you've built recognition and you throw away the packaging, the ad creative, and the search traffic that pointed at the old brand.
- A cease-and-desist from an owner who was there first and has rights to back it up.
The upside is that the check is cheap and mostly free. An afternoon now is a lot less painful than any of the outcomes above.
7 Methods to Check If Your Logo Is Trademarked #
1. USPTO Trademark Search (Free) #
The USPTO Trademark Search at tmsearch.uspto.gov is the official government database of US trademark applications and registrations, live and dead. This is the tool that replaced the old TESS system, which the USPTO retired on November 30, 2023 (USPTO), so ignore any tutorial that still points you at TESS.
To run a basic name check:
- Go to tmsearch.uspto.gov.
- Start in the basic search mode and type your brand name or a close variant.
- Switch the field to wordmark, owner, or goods and services depending on what you're checking.
- Move to the expert mode when you want to combine terms or filter by class.
- Read the results for marks that are close to yours in the goods and services you'll actually sell.
Know what it won't do. A wording search on its own won't catch a logo that looks like yours but carries a different name; for that, use the image search and design codes in the next step. It doesn't cover unregistered common-law marks that a business may still enforce, and it only covers the US. For a wordmark, though, it's the first and most authoritative stop.
2. USPTO Image Search and Design Search Codes (Free) #
Since April 2, 2026, USPTO Trademark Search has offered a beta image search (USPTO announcement). Log in to your USPTO.gov account, select "Image search" from the drop-down menu, and upload your logo; the results show trademarks similar to the image (USPTO: search system updates). The USPTO describes it as "a supplemental strategy" that "doesn't replace a traditional clearance search," and adds that "using design search codes may deliver different results than the AI image search, so it's best to use both methods."
Design codes are the long-standing way to reach image-based registrations in the official database: you search by design search code and by design description.
A design search code is a six-digit number organized in three parts: the first two digits are the category, the next two the division, and the last two the section (the USPTO's own example, 05.01.01, covers evergreens and other trees or bushes of triangular or conical shape). Each pair narrows from a broad design type to a specific element.
- Break your logo into its prominent design elements (a bird, a crown, a mountain, a geometric shape).
- Look up the matching six-digit code in the Design Search Code Manual at tmdesigncodes.uspto.gov.
- Search that code in USPTO Trademark Search, and pair it with a design description or your goods and services to cut the results down.
- Too few hits? Widen with wildcards. The USPTO's guide searches
DC:050101for triangular evergreens andDC:0501??for trees in that group generally. Too many hits? Combine the code with another code, a design description, or goods-and-services terms to narrow it (USPTO: federal trademark searching). These are the USPTO's example codes for trees, not codes for every logo.
This surfaces registered design marks that no text search and no public web search would ever reach, straight from the official register.
3. Visual Trademark Search Tools #
Text search has a blind spot. Search "apple" and you'll never surface a lookalike fruit design filed under an unrelated name. Design conflicts hide behind different names, and those are exactly the ones a wordmark search steps right over.
Visual search compares the image itself. It looks at shape and silhouette, the color palette, the individual design elements, and the overall impression a mark leaves. That's closer to how an examiner and a judge weigh two logos than any keyword match.
Dedicated visual-search tools, LogoVerify among them, compare your logo against USPTO logo images and surface the visual near-matches, catching the design collisions that text search can't see. Treat them as a complement to the USPTO's own image and design-code searches above, not a replacement for them.
4. Google Image Search (Free, Limited) #
A reverse image search is a fast sanity check for whether your design is already floating around online:
- Open images.google.com.
- Click the camera icon to search by image.
- Upload your logo file.
- Scan the results for anything that reads as the same mark.
Reverse image search only finds logos that are publicly visible on the web. A registered mark that isn't actively posted online won't show up, so a clean Google result tells you very little on its own.
5. Check for Common-Law (Unregistered) Use #
A federal database search finds applications and registrations, live and dead, but not unregistered use. Dead records can't block your registration, though the mark behind one may still be in use (USPTO: federal trademark searching). In the US, a business can also build enforceable common-law trademark rights simply by using a mark in commerce, without ever registering it, and those rights can still support a demand letter or an opposition against you.
To widen the net beyond the register, look at:
- Plain web and news searches for the name and the design in your product category.
- State business-name and secretary-of-state registrations.
- Marketplace listings (Amazon, Etsy), social handles, and domain names.
None of this is a formal clearance, but it catches the active local or online brand that owns a name through use alone. Where common-law use looks like a real risk, that's a signal to get an attorney involved.
6. Expanding Abroad? Check These #
Trademarks are territorial, so a US search only tells you about the US, and even there it is a preliminary check, not a clearance. If you plan to sell into other markets, the WIPO Global Brand Database is the widest free net: it aggregates trademark data from many national and international collections and includes image-similarity search (WIPO). EUIPO TMview covers the EU plus many non-EU offices, and national offices like CIPO in Canada and the UK IPO handle their own registers. For a US-only launch you can skip these for now.
7. Professional Trademark Search #
Some situations are worth paying an attorney for. If you've found similar marks and can't tell how serious they are, or you want a written opinion before you commit real money to a launch, a professional clearance search buys you judgment you can't get from a database alone. Prices vary widely by provider and scope, so ask for a written quote that separates the search report, the attorney's opinion, and any filing work.
One rule to flag before you plan to self-file: if your permanent residence or principal place of business is outside the United States, the USPTO requires you to be represented by a US-licensed attorney in all trademark matters (USPTO). For foreign-domiciled applicants, hiring counsel isn't optional.
You don't need an attorney to run the free checks above. It's the step you take when the free checks turn up something ambiguous, or when guessing wrong would be expensive.
What to Look for in Trademark Search Results #
The USPTO's likelihood-of-confusion guidance is the lens examiners use, and it's the one you should borrow. Watch for a few kinds of overlap:
- Identical or near-identical marks. A direct copy of your design in your space is the clearest conflict there is.
- Visual similarity. The same silhouette, palette, or core elements. The USPTO weighs this as appearance similarity.
- Sound-alikes. Names that sound the same when spoken even if they're spelled differently; the USPTO's own example is "T. Markey" against "Tee Marquee" (USPTO).
- Same idea, different execution. Two designs that leave the same commercial impression can still collide.
No single factor always decides the outcome. A visually close mark owned by an inactive filer on unrelated goods is a very different risk from a close mark held by an active owner selling what you sell.
Understanding Nice Classifications #
Trademarks are filed under the Nice Classification, an international system of 45 categories for goods and services (34 for goods, 11 for services) run by WIPO. Classes organize the register and help you focus a search; they don't by themselves decide whether two marks conflict. Likelihood of confusion turns on how related the goods and services are, not on the class number alone.
Two similar marks can coexist legally when they're used on genuinely unrelated goods or services. The USPTO itself uses "Delta" as the example: Delta air transportation and Delta faucets are the same word on unrelated goods, and both hold their marks (USPTO). That's not a guarantee of safety, though. If you find a close mark on related goods, it's worth an attorney's read before you assume you're clear.
These are the classes indie sellers land in most often:
- Class 25 for clothing, footwear, and headwear: t-shirts, hats, shoes.
- Class 35 for advertising, business management, and retail services.
- Class 9 for electronics, software, and mobile apps.
- Class 42 for tech services, SaaS, and web design.
- Class 21 for household goods like mugs and kitchenware.
The current edition is the Nice Classification 13th edition (NCL 13-2026), in force since January 1, 2026 (WIPO). The full list lives at WIPO's Nice Classification. Begin broadly, then use goods-and-services terms and relevant classes to focus the results. Include related goods and services, including coordinated classes where useful; class numbers alone do not determine relatedness, and the USPTO warns that narrowing by class can hide related marks filed in other classes (USPTO: federal trademark searching).
Red Flags: When to Reconsider Your Logo #
Reconsider the logo if you find an identical or near-identical mark used on goods or services like yours, if a large brand with the resources to enforce owns something close, if the space is already crowded with lookalikes, or if a conflicting registration covers products close to what you'll sell. Any of those is a reason to go back to the drawing board before you file.
Proceed carefully when the similar mark covers unrelated goods or services, belongs to a small local business, or shows an old registration that may have lapsed. Check the status field before you assume it's abandoned, because a live registration you overlooked is worse than a dead one you avoided.
You're in better shape when nothing similar turns up in the name search, the USPTO image and design-code searches, or other visual searches, your design reads as genuinely distinct, and your target classes are clear. None of that is a legal all-clear or a guarantee against a dispute, but it's the profile that gives an application the best odds.
Frequently Asked Questions #
How much does it cost to check if a logo is trademarked? #
You can check for free. The USPTO Trademark Search (including its beta image search and design-code search) and the WIPO Global Brand Database cost nothing, and tools like LogoVerify offer a free visual check. An attorney clearance search costs extra; prices vary by provider and scope, so get a written quote.
Can I use a logo that's trademarked in a different country? #
Trademarks are territorial, so a mark registered abroad doesn't automatically block you in the US, and a US mark doesn't protect you elsewhere. If you plan to sell into other markets, search those registers before you commit to the brand.
What's the difference between the TM and R symbols? #
You can use "TM" for goods or "SM" for services "even if you haven't filed an application to register your trademark." The ® symbol comes only with registration: "You may only use the registration symbol with the trademark for the goods or services listed in the federal trademark registration" (USPTO: what is a trademark).
How long does a trademark registration last? #
Per the USPTO, a US registration can last indefinitely in ten-year terms, but only if you keep it alive with required maintenance filings for the goods and services it covers. You file a Section 8 Declaration of Use between the fifth and sixth years, then a combined Section 8 and 9 renewal every ten years after that; registrations based on an international registration under Section 66(a) file Section 71 declarations at the USPTO instead, and the underlying international registration must also be renewed with WIPO every ten years (USPTO: Section 66(a) timeline). Each deadline has a six-month grace period with an added fee, and keeping the registration alive depends on continued use in commerce, not just paperwork, so calendar the dates well ahead.
How long does it take to register a trademark? #
Total pendency to registration shifts with the USPTO's backlog, and first examination lands a few months after filing. Both numbers move, so check the live USPTO dashboard for the current figures rather than trusting a number in an article.
Related reading #
- Trademark Search Tools Compared: Coverage, Features & Costs (2026)
- How to Check If a Brand Name Is Trademarked in the US
Before launch, run the name check on the USPTO's tool, run a design-code and visual check on the design, and look past the register for common-law use. That gives you a clearer picture of potential conflicts before you pay a filing fee or open a storefront, though it is not a legal clearance.
This is general information, not legal advice. For a specific question about your mark, talk to a qualified trademark attorney.
