(Steps formulated by the Patent and Trademark Depository Library Program [PTDLP])

Step 1. Describe your product(s) or service(s).

Write a brief description (one word is acceptable) of each product or service to be covered by your mark.  You may include multiple numbers of goods and services to be covered by your mark.  However, you must pay a fee for each class referenced.

Step 2.  Use the Acceptable Identification of Goods and Services Manual (G & S Manual) to identify specific terms that describe your product(s) or service(s).

Find the terms that most closely describe your good or service.  If you use TEAS Plus to file electronically, you must use a term from the G & S Manual.   However, if you submit the more expensive paper copy, you can create your own description if you cannot find a suitable term in the G & S Manual.

Step 3.  Determine the international class.

If you use a term from the G & S Manual, the International Class appears next to the entries. If you make up your own term, you can find the appropriate class in the International Schedule of Classes of Goods and Services. Using the International Class helps focus a search, but the International Class is not required on the application.

Step 4.  Determine related goods and services and their classes.

Use the G & S Manual to identify goods or services that are used, advertised or sold with your product or service.  Also look at the International Schedule of Classes to find additional classes that relate to your product or service. For example, according to the PTDLP, "if your product is income tax preparation softwear, Class 36 would be related because it includes services related to insurance, financial affairs, monetary affairs and real estate."

Step 5. Develop a basic search strategy.

• Review the common reasons the USPTO rejects a trademark.
  
• Think of alternative ways to present your mark in case your first choice is already taken. 
• If you plan to use a phrase, search using the key words. To be sure you are searching the Basic Index (BI) completely,  use truncation devices:
  
  • * for beginning or endings of words (for walking or walks use walk*) or
  • ? inside words (for man or men use m?n).

Step 6. Broaden your search strategy.

Thinks of all the ways another mark may be similar to yours including

• Shortened versus longer versions: Net for Internet
  
• Similar meaning: Green Stick, Green Twig
  
• Similar sound or appearance including homonyms:
  
  • Color Time, Colour Thyme 
    
  • Scream'n and Screaming

Step 7. Conduct the search.

Access TESS (Trademark Electronic Search System).

1. Click on the New User Form Search (Basic).
2. Notice the default selections are "Combined Word Mark" and "All Search Terms." Examine the various alternatives in the pull down boxes.
3. Enter your key term(s) in the search box. Remember also to test the alternatives suggested in Step 6.
4. Once you are comfortable doing the basic search, try the Structured Search Form in order to search the Coordinated Class (pull down field box). This will retrieve marks from International Classes that are related to a particular class. (See Step 3 to review the importance of the International Class.)
5. Remember to log out when you are finished with your searching to free resources for others.
6. Consider consulting a trademark attorney to test the thoroughness of your investigation and help you with the legalities of the trademark process.

Step 8. Search logos and designs (Extra step for graphic designs).

Search the Design Code Manual if your mark contains:

1. Word marks conveying a strong visual image.
Example: Search images of moons for the expresssion "Blue Moon." The Table of Categories is a good place to start since Category 1 is "Celestial bodies, natural phenomena, geographical maps" and includes moons as a division. Notice the "see also" references and the "specific guidelines." Design code numbers consist of the category, the division, and the section. The design code number for "Moons with craters" is 01.11.25, with 01 being the category, .11 the division, and .25 the section. Design codes can be combined to search different aspects of a proposed mark (an apple and a pig).

2. Designs or logos without text.
Enter a relevant keyword term in the Design Code Manual's Keyword Search Box to bring up appropriate linked listings from the GOTO Alphabetical Index and the Division. For example, the first alphabetical listing is for Aardvarks in division 03.09.25. Once you have searched multiple ways and feel confident your mark is not already being used, click on the "General Guidelines for Coding Design Marks" to see regulations concerning the appearance of the mark.

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