Searches and databases

Most of the major government patents & trademarks offices now offer public access to their online trademark databases, although coverage and ease of use varies considerably. This page highlights some of the databases of likely interest to users of this site.

     Australia

IP Australia, the government agency that deals with patent and trademark registrations in Australia, offers free public access to its Australian Trade Mark On-line Search System (ATMOSS) database.

ATMOSS allows single element and multi-element searches, eg by words (inc word parts) or images, trademark class/s, mark number, date (eg renewal due dates), owner name and registration status.

Display in summary or full detail format includes internet access to images of stylized and design marks, relevant dates and other information. A summary of all searches with criteria and statistics can be displayed at any time during a session and ATMOSS allows users to conduct 'multi-session' searches with scope to save the results for three weeks.

     New Zealand

The Intellectual Property Office of New Zealand (IPONZ) provides more restricted free internet access to its trademark database.

Users can search by criteria such as date, registration status, trademark number, owner and class. Registered (fee-paying) users can save search criteria and conduct more sophisticated searches 

IPONZ offers two levels of access in displaying search results, consistent with its free-fee structure. Detailed results, including the history of each mark, are restricted to commercial users. Displays from free searches involve a listing of marks that match the search request; users select marks from that list and can then view a summary of information on the database. .

     Canada

The Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO) maintains a Canadian Trade-Mark Database, with a free search facility in English and French. The database covers all active marks, some inactive marks and those cancelled/refused or abandoned after 1979. Like the Australian database it identifies words and designs (eg ANZAC) protected by legislation or otherwise unavailable for registration.

The database offers a wide range of search criteria for identifying current marks. CIPO users can search for pending and registered Canadian marks. .

     US

The US Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO) currently provides access to several trademark databases, reflecting changes to its information technology systems and legislation.

The Trademark Electronic Search System (TESS) features structural form searching and free form search of information about active marks and applications, along with and some inactive marks. The TESS basic search form retrieves word marks, serial or registration numbers and owners. Searching using the structured form covers keywords in 30 fields such as abandonment, owner, filing date, registration date, design code, description of mark and international class. The advanced free form search handles more complicated queries, including wildcard operators.

A significant backlog of unavailable new applications means that caution is desirable. The Trademark Application Registration & Retrieval (TARR) system covers status information about pending or registered marks.

The nongovernment MarksOnline site includes a search engine covering registrations of US federal trademarks and domain names.

     EU

The European Union Community Trademark Consultation Service (CTM-ONLINE) is available in English, German, French, Spanish, and Italian. It covers marks

Users can search by trademark number or other characteristics such as the beginning or end of a word. The display lists EU marks matching the search request, with a hyperlink to summary information for each mark.

The UK Trade Mark Registry offers a free internet search facility for users who've previously identified the UK mark number. Search results for each number feature current and historical information.

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