Do your own USPTO trademark search, the right way.

The 6-step search

1. Step 01

   Create your free USPTO account

   Head to my.uspto.gov and click Create an Account. You'll use this same login later to actually file. Free, no credit card.

   Open my.uspto.gov
2. Step 02

   Open the Trademark Search tool

   USPTO retired the old TESS interface in late 2023. The new tool is just called 'Trademark Search'. It's free, no login required for searching.

   Open Trademark Search
3. Step 03

   Start with an exact-match search

   Type your mark in quotes, e.g. "SUNROOM". If someone owns it in a similar category, stop and rethink the name.

4. Step 04

   Then search for phonetic + spelling twins

   USPTO rejects marks that sound alike, not just look alike. Try 'Sunrume', 'Sunn Room', 'Son Room'. If a competitor exists in your class, they can block you.

5. Step 05

   Filter by your goods & services class

   Use the Class filter (1–45). A coffee shop is Class 43. Clothing is 25. Apps are 9 + 42. Same name in a different class is usually fine.

6. Step 06

   Read the status of any hit you find

   'Live' = active protection, treat as a real conflict. 'Dead / Abandoned' = you may be free to file, but check why it died first.

Copy each one, paste it into ChatGPT or Claude, and fill in the bracketed parts. Use them in order — audit first, then build your search list, then check your class, then read what you find.

AI is your research assistant. It cannot see the USPTO database. Every result gets confirmed at tmsearch.uspto.gov with your own eyes.

1. AI prompt

   Prompt 1 — Audit my business first

   When to use it: Start here. Before you search anything, you need a clear picture of what you actually sell and what words describe it. This prompt turns your business into a searchable list.

   Copy prompt

   You are helping me prepare to run a preliminary trademark search on the USPTO
   Trademark Search System at tmsearch.uspto.gov. Before I search, I need to
   audit my own business so I know exactly what to look for.
   
   About my business:
   - Business or brand name I want to trademark: [YOUR NAME]
   - Website (if any): [URL]
   - What I actually sell or do, in plain language: [1–2 sentences]
   - Who buys it: [describe your customer]
   - Where I sell it: [online / in person / both, and any specific platforms]
   - How long I have been using this name: [answer]
   
   Please do the following:
   
   1. SUMMARIZE MY BUSINESS in one clear sentence I could read to a stranger.
   
   2. LIST EVERY PRODUCT OR SERVICE I actually offer today, separated. Do not
      invent things I did not mention. If I said "coffee subscription and
      workshops," that is TWO different offerings that likely fall in different
      trademark classes.
   
   3. FLAG ANYTHING VAGUE. If I said something fuzzy like "wellness" or
      "consulting," ask me a clarifying question so I can be specific. The USPTO
      requires specific goods and services descriptions.
   
   4. LIST THE KEY WORDS AND PHRASES a customer would actually type to find me.
      These are the words I need to search on the USPTO.
   
   5. LIST INDUSTRY TERMS AND SYNONYMS for what I sell (e.g. if I sell "sneakers,"
      also list "athletic shoes," "trainers," "footwear").
   
   6. TELL ME which of my offerings are PRODUCTS (goods) and which are SERVICES.
      This matters because the USPTO treats them differently and I pay per class.
   
   At the end, give me a clean summary I can paste into the next prompt when I
   build my search list.
   
   Important: do not tell me if my name is available. You cannot see the USPTO
   database. Your job here is to help me understand my own business well enough
   to search it properly.

2. AI prompt

   Prompt 2 — Build my search list

   When to use it: Run this after the audit. Ten minutes here saves you months. This turns your brand name into every variation the USPTO examiner will check.

   Copy prompt

   I am doing my own preliminary trademark knockout search on the USPTO Trademark
   Search System at tmsearch.uspto.gov. I need you to build my search list first.
   
   My proposed brand name is: [YOUR NAME]
   What I actually sell or do: [describe it in one plain sentence]
   Who buys it: [describe your customer]
   
   Build me a search list organized in five layers:
   
   LAYER 1, EXACT: my name exactly as I would file it.
   LAYER 2, CONTAINED: my name as part of longer names.
   LAYER 3, SPELLING VARIATIONS: at least 8 realistic misspellings and creative
     spellings, the kind real businesses actually use.
   LAYER 4, PHONETIC: at least 8 names that sound the same when spoken aloud but
     are spelled differently.
   LAYER 5, MEANING: at least 6 different words that carry the same idea or
     translate my name, including Spanish equivalents if any apply.
   
   Then convert my list into ready-to-paste USPTO search strings using field tags.
   Use CM for the mark, LD:true for live marks only, and use the * and ? wildcards
   and regular expression syntax where it helps. Format each one in a code block
   so I can copy it.
   
   Give me the searches ordered from narrowest to broadest, and tell me in one
   line what each search is looking for.
   
   Do not tell me whether my mark is available. You cannot see the USPTO database.
   Your job is to build the list. I will run the searches myself.

3. AI prompt

   Prompt 3 — Find my class number

   When to use it: You need this before you can filter your search by category. There are 45 classes and you pay per class, so getting this right matters.

   Copy prompt

   I need to figure out which USPTO international trademark classes likely apply
   to my business so I can narrow my own search.
   
   What I sell or do: [be specific. Not "coffee." Say "roasted whole bean coffee
   that I sell online and at farmers markets, plus a monthly subscription box."]
   
   For each thing I listed:
   1. Tell me the most likely class number and what that class covers.
   2. Explain WHY that class fits, in one sentence.
   3. Flag anything that might fall in a second class, and explain the difference
      between selling a product (a goods class) and providing a service (a
      service class). This trips up almost everyone.
   4. Warn me about anything I described that might not qualify at all.
   
   Then give me my search strings using the class numbers, like:
   CM:[my mark] AND IC:[number] AND LD:true
   
   Important: your class suggestions are a starting point for my own research,
   not an answer. Tell me to confirm every class in the USPTO's official
   Trademark ID Manual before I rely on it, and remind me I pay a separate fee
   for each class I file in.

4. AI prompt

   Prompt 4 — Help me read what I found

   When to use it: You ran the searches, you found something that worries you, and you can't tell if it matters. Use this to think it through.

   Copy prompt

   I ran my own knockout search on tmsearch.uspto.gov and found a mark that
   concerns me. Help me think through it. Ask me questions, do not just give me
   an answer.
   
   MY BRAND
   Name: [your name]
   What I sell: [plain sentence]
   Class I think I am in: [number]
   
   WHAT I FOUND on the USPTO site
   Mark: [exactly as shown]
   Status: [Live / Dead / Abandoned / Cancelled]
   Class: [number]
   Goods and services listed: [copy it exactly from the USPTO page]
   Owner: [name]
   
   Walk me through it in this order:
   1. STATUS FIRST. If it is dead, abandoned, or cancelled, explain what that
      changes and what it does not change, because the owner may still have
      common law rights from actually using the name.
   2. SOUND. Do these two names sound alike when said out loud?
   3. LOOK. Do they look alike on a shelf or a screen?
   4. MEANING. Do they suggest the same thing to a buyer?
   5. THE PRODUCTS. Would a normal shopper think these two businesses are
      related? This matters more than the names being different.
   
   Then give me your honest read: green light, yellow light, or red light, and
   explain the reasoning in plain language a person with no legal background
   would understand.
   
   Then tell me clearly: this is educational analysis, not a legal opinion, and
   if this is a yellow or red light I should talk to a licensed trademark
   attorney before I spend money filing.