Lesson 2-3 - Conducting a Preliminary Screening Trademark Search: Trademark Searching Using DialogWeb

Searching the Text of a Trademark

Using the Rotated Index (cont'd)

To answer Ray's question, we will need to find all of the trademarks registered in the United States Federal trademark database that uses the terms "lego" and "land." Using the Rotated Index (TR=) will gather pertinent records regardless of the position of the term or the punctuation.

b 226

Next, I enter the command SELECT STEPS (SS), the prefix TR=, and my key terms. I connect my terms with the AND connector, making sure to place parentheses around multiple terms, and add truncation (?) to each term in the search.

ss tr=(lego? and land?)

Another powerful feature of TRADEMARKSCAN File 226 is the presence of cross-referencing in which terms that sound alike (e.g., lite or light) are automatically retrieved.

2-3

Search Tip 2-5:

For short or common character strings, use TR=<term>? with caution. You may retrieve a high number of irrelevant hits or the system may reach a processing limit:

Example:
SS TR=ERIC? will yield AMERICA, GENERIC, CLERICAL, etc.

Example:
SS TR=AIR? File 226 processing stopped at TR=AIRE@NORTHER
SS TR=AIRE@NORTHER:AIR999999

Learn More #3:

Cross-referencing in Files 226 (TRADEMARKSCAN—U.S. Federal) and 246 (TRADEMARKSCAN—U.S. State) aid in broad retrieval. Remember the following tips:

Spellings are standard American English. OR words together that sound alike but have different meanings or have corrupted spelling.

Example:

gorilla or guerrilla
flight or flite

Note: Thomson and Thomson cross-references corrupted spellings of dictionary terms and not the other way around. Therefore, a search for QUICK will retrieve QUICK, QUIK, KWIK. However, if you actually conduct a search for the word KWIK, it will only pick up KWIK, not QUICK and QUIK.
Use AND for multiple word marks. Avoid using the (W) proximity connector.

Example:

ss magic and book to retrieve book magic or dragon magic books
Punctuation is removed from a trademark and the remaining text is compressed.

Example:

micro-wave becomes microwave
B.O.S.S. becomes BOSS
A word like E. S. P. retains its natural spaces and the text may not be compressed. Use proximity connectors between letters.

Example:

E(w)S(w)P
Two or more words may or may not be run together. Always search as one word and also as two words.

Example:

ss matchgame? or (match? and game?)
Use truncation (?) liberally to retrieve most plurals and possessives.

Example:

ss rocket?

Retrieves:

rocket man
patriot rockets
The Pocket Rockets
Rocketeer

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