HOME : SUPPORT : TRAINING : ONLINE COURSES
Welcome
Lesson 1: Locating a Known Trademark
Lesson 2: Preliminary Screening Search
Lesson 3: Determining Trademark Ownership
Lesson 4: Refining Trademark Searches
Lesson 5: Using the U.S. Trademark Files
Lesson 6: Conducting a Trademark Watch
Lesson 7: Locating Domain Names
Lesson 8: Wrapping Up the Course

Need Help?
Email Course Coordinator

Using Dialog Commands (cont'd)

It is very helpful as I search names or numbers, like the exact trademark name, to use the EXPAND command. This command allows me to look into the database index and see how the data is actually entered. Learn More

To use EXPAND, I just follow two simple steps:

Step 1:

Use EXPAND (E) to verify the spelling, punctuation, and other variations of the names or numbers in the field. Tip 1-2

To begin our search for the trademark Legoland, I enter the Dialog EXPAND command in the command text box followed by the two-letter prefix (ET=) for exact trademark and the exact trademark name that Ray gave me. We will learn more about prefixes in Lesson 3.

expand et=legoland

Tip 1-3

the database name with the EXPAND command

Learn More

We now see the list of trademarks in our EXPAND list.

EXPAND list with SELECT command

Step 2

Pick the exact trademark from the list by using the line reference number which appears in the first (left) column. The reference number begins with the letter "E". Legoland is listed as E3 in the EXPAND list. The SELECT command is used to "pick from the list". The SELECT command may be abbreviated as just the letter "S".

I enter the SELECT command and the appropriate E number(s) for Legoland (E3) in the command text box:

s e3

Learn More

Go to the next page.


1-4
Next page

Authoritative Answers Enriched by ProQuest

Search Tip 1-2:

Dialog is not case-sensitive; search commands and terms may be entered using upper- or lower-case letters. For example:

Examples:
SELECT Legoland
select legoland


Search Tip 1-3:

In an exact trademark search you retrieve results that match terms you enter exactly (e.g., s et=light retrieves only the word "light.").

In broader trademark searches, you will be able to take advantage of cross-references that Thomson & Thomson, the database provider, includes in most of its trademark databases. These cross-references will help in locating corrupted spelling or confusingly similar marks (e.g., light and lite). See Lesson 2 for more details.

Learn More #3:

The EXPAND command allows us to see how a term is entered in the index of a database. In Additional Indexes names and numbers must be entered exactly the way they appear in the database index.

The EXPAND command (abbreviated E) is used to verify the spelling, punctuation, and spacing of names and to view alphabetically similar entries of those names.

The EXPAND command displays a list of terms with the number of unique records containing each term.

EXPAND displays the first 50 entries in the index. We can use the scroll bar to view all 50 entries.

When to Use It:  EXPAND

Command Example:

EXPAND
E		 expand et=spike-a-roo
e ow=mcdonald		 Use EXPAND to verify the spelling of a term and to view similar entries.

Print page

Learn More #4:

Another way to search for a known trademark is to use a serial/application number (SN=) or a registration number (RN=). Search the number that is furnished by the source. Punctuation is optional in most cases and is best left out.

To Retrieve Search
USPTO trademark application 98-123,456
USPTO trademark registration 658,010		 s sn=98123456
s rn=658010

Other countries may include a country designation (e.g., Germany application K61902) and would be searched s sn=k61902 or s sn=k 61902. In this case, the application can be searched with or without spacing.

Print page

Learn More #5:

The example below illustrates several SELECT statements. I can use the SELECT command followed by any search terms or set numbers.

The SELECT command may be abbreviated as just the letter "S".

When to Use It: SELECT

Command Example:

Command Examples When to Use It
SELECT
S		 select legoland
s et=spike-a-roo?
s s1
s e3
s e1 or e4
s e2:e4 		Use SELECT to create a set of records (e.g., s1) that contains the specified terms.

Print page