A search for a trademark is an important procedure that allows you to find out if there are trademarks that are similar to yours.

   A trademark is considered identical to another trademark if they match each other by all elements.

   A trademark is considered similar if it is associated in overall design with another trademark, despite the difference in the individual elements. In the comparison of trademarks, the phonetic, visual, and conceptual (semantic) similarity must be assessed.

 Why conduct a preliminary trademark search?

   The number of registered trademarks increases each year, thereby increasing the risk that your trademark will be recognized as identical or similar to another trademark that was previously registered.

    If such a similarity is found, the expert of the Ukrpatent will refuse to register your trademark and this will result in loss of time and money you paid.

    In order to avoid losses of money and time, we advise our customers to conduct a preliminary examination of the trademarks. The preliminary search will help to identify all similar trademarks and to select the strategy for registering your trademark that enables you to avoid refusal of registration.

   Remember that conducting a preliminary search is cheaper than refusal of registration!

 Preliminary trademark search types

    We offer to our clients to use one of two types of preliminary searches of trademarks in Ukraine:

• quick search;
• full search.

    Quick search is performed by our agency. The duration of this type of search is two business days. A quick search is performed in the database of trademarks registered in Ukraine and in the database of trademark applications, which have passed the stage of formal examination. Since the formal examination lasts about 6 months, the information about the applications submitted, for example 5 months ago, will not be displayed. We recommend you to order a quick search, for example in a case, when you are developing a trademark and there is need to choose one of several variants offered by the designer or marketer.

    Full search is performed by the Ukrpatent. Duration of the full search is 7 business days. The price depends on the type of the trademark, the number of the classes of the Nice classification, and duration of search. After the preliminary search, you will receive an official report of the Ukrpatent and our concise conclusions about the chances of the trademark registration. The complete search differs in that it includes, in addition to registered trademarks, the information about all applications submitted for trademark registration. This type of search allows you to get the most complete picture on the similarity of trademarks. If you are interested in expediting the registration of a trademark, we recommend choosing this type of preliminary search.

What do I need to order a preliminary trademark search?

   To order a preliminary search, you need to provide our patent attorney with an image of the trademark you want to register and also indicate the goods and services for which the trademark will be used or will be registered.