How to Search Trading Names
"Trade name" is one category of names used in commerce to designate a business; the other two categories are "trademark" and "service mark," but the categories are broad and names get interchanged. Business owners don't have to use the same full legal name for the trade name as they do for a trademark or service mark. Some business entities have many "names," which can confuse information seekers and those wishing to create new trade names. If you need information on trade names, a great starting source is government agencies.
Other People Are Reading
Instructions
-
Search a Federal Database
-
1
Click the icon to open your Internet browser, and search for the United States Patent and Trademark Office's (USPTO) "Trademarks, Where Do I Start?" Web page. Click the link to bring the page up.
-
2
Click on the "Search Marks" link in the left pane to advance to the USPTO "Trademark Electronic Search System (TESS)" Web page.
-
-
3
Click on the "New User Form Search (Basic)" link to advance to the query page.
-
4
Type in the trading name that you wish to search for in the "Search Term" field. For this example, we will use the name "Google."
-
5
Click the "Submit Query" button to process the trading name in the database and advance to the results Web page.
-
6
Scroll down the list of names if you see several names. In this example, "Google" returns about 70 records. Click on the hyperlinks for each name under the "Work Mark" column to read more about it.
Search a State Database
-
7
Click on the icon to open your Internet browser, and navigate to the state-in-question's Web site. Click on the link to open the site. Type "business" in the Web site's search box, then click on the link to go to that division. For this example, use the Colorado Secretary of State's "Business Division" Web site.
-
8
Find and click on the link on the Web page for searching the state's database of business and company information. In this example, the link on the Colorado Secretary of State Business Division's Web page is "Search business database" in the bottom left corner.
-
9
Type in the name that you wish to find information on in the blank field. Continuing with the Colorado S.O.S. example, the field is labeled "Business name, trademark or trade name." Type "Google," as an example.
-
10
Click the "Search" button at the bottom of the page to advance to the results Web page.
-
11
Scroll down the list of names if you see several names. In this example, "Google" returns about 29 records in the Colorado S.O.S. database. Click on the hyperlinks next to each name under the "ID Number" column to read a summary.
-
1
Tips & Warnings
The United States Securities and Exchange Commission offers a company search via its website. If a company earns less than $1 million, however, it is not required to register with the agency.
Domain names are for businesses with a major presence on the Internet, e.g., "Amazon" or "Monster." Unlike trade names, domain names are not registered with state and local governments.
If you bookmark the direct links to the database-search webpages, the link may not bring up the page on your next visit because your "session" expired after your last visit. Instead, bookmark the main webpage, then click the link to the database, as methodized above.
References
Resources
- Photo Credit name 3d sign image by onlinebewerbung.de from Fotolia.com
