What a name search should do — and usually does not
Typing a name into one office’s search box tells you whether that exact string is registered in that one country. It misses the three things that actually cause conflicts:
- Similar spellings — “Lumina” vs “Luminna”.
- Similar sounds — “Kwik” vs “Quick”, “Nikee” vs “Nike”.
- Other registers — a name that is free in the US and taken at EUIPO, where you also sell.
TM Atlas runs all three at once, across 54,2 million marks in 85 registers, in under a second.
What you get back
For each matching mark: the mark text, owner, register, status (live, pending, dead), filing date and Nice classes — and a TMAtlas Risk Score for your goods and territories, with reasons: “identical, live, same class”, “sounds alike, different goods”, “dead since 2019”.
Above the list, a verdict: HIGH REVIEW, REVIEW or LOW. Under it, the coverage panel: which registers were searched and how many records each holds, so “nothing found” means something.
How to use it well
- Search the name alone, then the name plus your product word (“Lumina candles”). Product names are what appear on listings.
- Set the classes to what you sell. The defaults are broad; the score is sharper when they are right.
- Set the territories to where you sell. A mark in a country you will never ship to matters less.
- Search variants you would be embarrassed to be confused with: plural, one-letter-off, phonetic.
When to talk to an attorney
When the verdict is HIGH REVIEW on a name you love, or when a famous mark appears anywhere in the list. Arrive with the exact registrations from this page; the consultation is faster and cheaper.
Check a full listing instead · What we cover, register by register · Open the app