You picked a name. You bought the domain, set up the LLC, maybe even ordered business cards. Then someone asked: "Is your business name trademarked?"
That question tends to hit like a cold shower. The good news: checking is straightforward, it doesn't require a lawyer, and the answer might not be as bad as you think. The bad news: with over 2.7 million active trademark registrations at the USPTO alone, conflicts are real. Ignoring them doesn't make them go away.
Here's what "trademarked" actually means, how to search for existing trademarks on your business name, and what to do with whatever you find.
What It Actually Means for a Name to Be "Trademarked"
Most founders use "trademarked" as shorthand for "someone else owns this name." The reality is more specific, and that specificity works in your favor.
A trademark is not the same as a business registration. Filing an LLC in Delaware, registering a DBA with your county, or buying a .com domain gives you zero trademark rights. Those are administrative registrations. A trademark protects a brand name (or logo, slogan, or sound) as it's used in commerce to identify the source of goods or services. You can have a perfectly legal LLC name that still infringes someone else's trademark.
Trademarks don't have to be registered to exist. This is the fact that surprises most people. In the United States, trademark rights come from use in commerce, not from registration. If someone has been selling products under a name since 2019 but never filed with the USPTO, they still have what's called "common law" trademark rights. Those rights are limited to their geographic area, but they're real and enforceable.
Federal registration is the strongest protection, but it's not the only kind. The USPTO handles federal trademark registration, which gives nationwide priority. But 50 states also maintain their own trademark registers, separately from the federal system. A name could be registered at the state level in Texas and not appear in the USPTO database at all.
Trademark protection is class-specific. This is the other fact that works in your favor. The international system for categorizing goods and services uses 45 categories called Nice classes. "Delta" is trademarked by an airline (Class 39, transportation) and by a faucet manufacturer (Class 11, plumbing fixtures). Both coexist because they operate in different classes with different customers. Your business name might be registered by someone in a completely different industry, and that may not be a problem for you.
With 2.7 million active registrations at the USPTO, plus state registrations and unregistered common law marks, the trademark universe is large. But "trademarked" doesn't mean "off limits." It means you need to understand the specifics.
How to Search for Existing Trademarks on Your Name
A thorough trademark search follows four steps, starting with the most comprehensive database and working outward to catch what the databases miss.
1. Search the USPTO Trademark Center
The USPTO replaced its old search system (TESS) with the Trademark Center in late 2023. This is your first stop. Search your exact business name, then search for variations: plural forms, alternate spellings, phonetic equivalents.
"Exact match only" is the most common mistake at this stage. If your name is "Brevity," you should also search for "Breviti," "Brevitee," and similar-sounding variations. The USPTO examiner will, and it's better to find conflicts before you file than after. For a deeper walkthrough of this process, see the guide to searching trademarks after TESS.
2. Search international databases
If your business operates (or plans to operate) outside the United States, check the WIPO Global Brand Database and the EUIPO's eSearch plus. WIPO covers international registrations filed under the Madrid Protocol, which is the treaty system that lets trademark owners extend protection across multiple countries through a single application. The EUIPO database covers European Union trademarks.
Even if you're US-only today, a quick WIPO search is worthwhile. International registrations that designate the United States show up in the USPTO database, but checking the source gives you more context about the registrant.
3. Check state-level trademark databases
Each US state maintains its own trademark register. These marks don't appear in the USPTO database. Most state databases are searchable online through the Secretary of State's website, though the search tools vary wildly in quality.
State registrations grant rights only within that state's borders. If you find a state-level registration in a state where you don't operate, the conflict may be minimal. But if you find one in your home state, that's a conversation worth having with an attorney.
4. Search for common law usage
This is the step most people skip, and it's the step that catches the conflicts no database will show you. Search Google, check domain registrations, look at social media handles, and search industry directories. A business that's been operating under a name for years without registering it still has enforceable common law rights in their geographic area.
Tools like Signa can search across 200+ trademark offices in a single query, which saves time on steps 1 through 3. But step 4 (common law searching) still requires manual work. The free trademark search guide covers both the free tools and their limitations in detail.
What to Do If Your Name Is Already Trademarked
Finding an existing registration on your name is not the end. Before you abandon the name you love, run through this analysis.
Check the Nice class. If the existing mark covers Class 25 (clothing) and your business is a SaaS product (Class 42, software), you may have no conflict at all. Different classes, different customers, different markets. The Delta airlines/faucets example isn't a quirk. It's how the system is designed to work.
Check if the mark is still active. Trademarks have to be maintained. Owners must file maintenance documents between the 5th and 6th year after registration, and again at 10-year intervals. Many marks go abandoned. If the registration you found is listed as "dead" or "cancelled" in the USPTO database, it's no longer blocking your name. Dead marks don't create automatic rights, though the former owner may still have common law rights if they continue using the name in commerce.
Evaluate the geographic overlap. A common law mark in Portland, Oregon doesn't necessarily block your business in Miami. Geographic separation matters, especially for local businesses. Federal registrations are a different story: they grant nationwide priority regardless of where the owner actually operates.
Consider coexistence. In some cases, two businesses can legally use the same or similar names. This typically happens when the goods or services are sufficiently different, the geographic markets don't overlap, or both parties agree to coexistence terms. Formal coexistence agreements are more common than most founders realize.
Know when to walk away. If the existing mark is federally registered, active, and covers goods or services similar to yours, the math gets unfavorable fast. A USPTO application costs $350 per class in filing fees, but the real cost of a conflict is the opposition proceeding that could follow, potential rebranding, and the legal fees that come with both. Walking away from a name early is cheaper than defending it later.
Consult a trademark attorney for legal guidance specific to your situation. The analysis above covers general patterns, but your specific facts matter.
What to Do If Your Name Is Clear
"Clear" is a spectrum, not a binary. A name with zero exact matches in the USPTO database could still face a challenge from a phonetically similar mark or a common law user you didn't find. That said, there are degrees of clearance, and a name that passes all four search steps above is in strong shape.
Consider filing a federal trademark application. Registration isn't required to use a name, but it gives you nationwide priority from your filing date, the legal presumption of ownership, and the ability to use the registered trademark symbol. In the US, trademark rights go to the first to use a name in commerce, but registration is the clearest way to establish and defend those rights.
Understand the costs. A single-class USPTO application costs $350 in filing fees (as of the January 2025 fee schedule). Most businesses need one to two classes. Attorney fees for filing assistance typically range from $500 to $2,000 on top of that, though many founders file the initial application themselves.
Expect a timeline. The typical path from filing to registration takes 8 to 12 months. After the USPTO examining attorney reviews your application, approved marks are published in the Official Gazette for a 30-day opposition window, during which anyone who believes they'd be harmed by your registration can file a challenge. Most applications pass through this period without opposition, but the window exists.
Filing early matters. If you're already using the name in commerce, your common law rights started accumulating from first use. But someone else could file a federal application for a similar name tomorrow and create a conflict that's much harder to resolve after the fact. Early filing is the cheapest insurance available. For a step-by-step walkthrough, see the guide to trademarking a name. If you're still building foundational knowledge, start with what a trademark actually is.
4 Mistakes Founders Make When Checking Trademark Availability
These come up constantly. Avoiding them saves time, money, and the particular pain of discovering a conflict after you've already invested in a brand.
1. Only searching exact matches. The USPTO doesn't just look at your exact name. Examiners evaluate phonetic similarity, visual similarity, and meaning. "Klear" and "Clear" would likely be considered confusingly similar. "Blu" and "Blue" would too. When you search, think about how your name sounds, not just how it's spelled.
2. Ignoring state and common law trademarks. The USPTO database is the biggest, but it's not the only one. State registrations and unregistered common law marks can create enforceable rights that won't show up in a federal search. The four-step process above exists for this reason.
3. Assuming a domain purchase means the name is clear. Buying a .com has nothing to do with trademark rights. GoDaddy doesn't check the trademark register before selling you a domain. You can own the domain and still receive a cease-and-desist letter from a trademark holder. These are two completely separate systems.
4. Not checking the right Nice classes. If your software product is in Class 42, searching only Class 42 isn't enough. Related classes matter. A name registered in Class 9 (downloadable software) could conflict with your Class 42 registration (software as a service) because the goods and services are related in the eyes of consumers and examiners.
Check Your Name Before You Build on It
Checking whether your business name is trademarked is not complicated, but it's also not optional. The search takes an afternoon. The consequences of skipping it can take years to unwind.
Try running a free trademark search at signa.so to check your business name across 200+ trademark offices in seconds. It won't replace the common law search or legal advice, but it's the fastest way to know if the obvious conflicts exist before you invest further.