For companies, new and old, the protection and development of company trademarks involve a significant investment of time and resources. The process can become complicated and expensive if a company mistakenly chooses to use a mark that is already in use by others. Not only can doing so subject companies to liability, but it may also result in the need to create a new marketing and company strategy to change the trademark or logo. This may cost the company financially and may risk the company losing customers — all of which could be avoided by taking the additional step of clearing a trademark before a company begins to use it.
Clearing a trademark involves conducting a search — either an initial search of online records or a more detailed trademark search by an attorney or a third-party service — to determine whether or not the same or similar trademark is already in use. In most cases, it is important, and more cost-effective, to have the more detailed search carried out by a third-party service having expertise in trademark searches. Such a search is usually initiated by a trademark attorney. Read more