Finding the desired Trademark is not enough for a business. Trademark refers to a recognisable sign, word, phrase, design, or a combination of these, which helps to legally distinguish a product or services of an enterprise from other enterprises.

Entrepreneurs must find a suitable Trademark that aligns with the products and services they provide and find out if that Trademark is available for use for specific goods and services. This is possible by conducting a Trademark public search. Read on to know the definition of trademark search and process to conduct the search and related details.

A Trademark public search is one that decides if a proposed Trademark is free for use in relation with specific goods and services. Trademark public search is done in the Indian Trademark Registry database.

Here is a step-by-step guide on the process of conducting a Trademark search.

Step 1: Visit the official website of Intellectual Property India.

Step 2: Place the cursor on Related Links under the ‘Trade Marks’ tab and select ‘Public Search’.

Step 3: Individuals will be taken to an external website. Trademark search occurs in three categories, namely Wordmark (exact or near-exact word search), Vienna Code (similar artistic design search), Phonetic (phonetically or similar sounding word search). The search fields change depending on the category chosen. For instance, for Wordmark, there are keyword fields like Wordmark, class, and goods description. For Vienna code, there are keyword fields like Vienna code class. For Phonetic, there are keyword fields like Phonetic, class, goods description.

Step 4: Enter details in the relevant boxes under the respective category and click on ‘Search’.

Search results will appear on screen, and individuals can verify and make decisions accordingly.

Now that individuals know the process of conducting an online Trademark search in India, let’s learn about the importance of this searching procedure.

Trademark search is essential for various reasons. They are:

• To avoid expensive legal disputes
• To avoid duplication of an already registered Trademark

Till now, individuals have learnt about the Trademark searching process and its importance. Next, they must know about specific tools to conduct a Trademark search successfully.

While conducting a Trademark Search, individuals must know certain tools. These are available on the official website of Intellectual Property India. They are as follows:

• Class-detail: This search facility is available in multiple languages and allows determining the suitable class of a product or service. According to the NICE Classification, there are 45 classes out of which 1-34 are for goods and 35-45 are for services.
• Prohibited Marks: This tool shows the list of all marks that individuals cannot use in a Trademark. If individuals use these marks (e.g. Mahatma Gandhi, ISO, etc.), they may face rejection on their Trademark applications.
• Well-known Marks: This tool provides a list of all famous marks as identified by different authorities.
• Vienna Code Classification: It provides information related to the international classification of figurative elements of marks.

Trademark public search is necessary to ensure hassle-free completion of Trademark registration. Hence, follow the process mentioned above and protect your business and brand name with the right Trademark.