Design Search Guide

TM TKO now provides high-quality design search reports in addition to word mark searches. Go to the “Knockouts” page and pick the “Design Mark” tab. You will see our design search interface:

Entering a search

You need to enter at least one design element to search in either the “Design Description” or the “Design Codes” fields; these fields can be combined to further prioritize results.

The “Design Description” box is free-text, and searches what on TESS is the [de] (mark description) field. Each term is searched separately as a keyword, and results hitting on all keywords are prioritized over those matching fewer keywords.

The “Design Codes” tab auto-fills as you type, based on what in TESS would be the [dd] (design description) and [dc] (design code) fields. You can enter the six-digit design codes with or without periods, i.e. 050106 or 05.01.06, or you can also start typing “stump” to select the same design description and design code without having to reference the design search manual. Click on the entry you want or scroll down to the item and hit enter.

After selecting the design phrase and code, it will appear below the design search bar. Click “x” to remove any phrase.

As with design descriptions, you can enter more than one design code in a single search.

Enter Goods and Services

You need to enter at least one good or service to run a search.

Under “Goods and Services”, start typing a product or service. TM TKO auto-suggests the most common goods and services on the USPTO registry for you; we are able to provide the best results when you pick more common terms that accurately describe your client’s product or service. When you see one you like, click on it to add it to your list. There is no need to worry about class – TM TKO will automatically assign the class for each good or service you enter based on registry data, and you can add as few or as many terms as you like per search.

Here is the goods and services auto-suggester in action:

Here is what it looks like after you have selected goods and services:

This search would focus on International Classes 32 and 33, the classes for the two goods entered, and, as space allows, also highlight very similar marks in coordinated classes. As with design codes, click “x” to drop a given good or service from the search.

Presenting Results

Design search reports are a bit more traditional than our word mark search reports, focusing on a prioritized table of results. In-class results hitting on all design search criteria are prioritized before searches hitting on fewer criteria. If you searched using design codes, as you scroll down the results list, you will also see in-class results with similar but not identical design codes.

Unlike word mark search report, all design search results include the full mark description, design phrases, and design codes in the “Mark” field.

Tips and Tricks

– Limiting your search to a single design keyword will provide fewer results in-class and, for uncommon terms, more results in coordinated classes and for related goods.

For example, searching the Design Description field for “mastodon” for “luggage” yields only two results, both outside of International Class 18 (coordinated classes or statistically related goods). Doing the same search but with the “elephants, mammoths” [030301] design phrase and code added to the search yields nearly forty in-class results for those very similar animals, plus some additional results with other large savannah animals like giraffes and rhinos that have similar design codes. Including “mammoth” in the “Design Description” field further highlights results containing “mammoth” in the mark description, bringing them to the top of the chart above the “elephant” marks for easier review.

– Visual similarity between designs is often a judgment call. For most design search projects, we suggest running a separate search for each class of products or services that your client plans to offer, and to use both the most relevant design code(s) plus relevant keywords in the design description field to highlight the most relevant marks in the results table.

– To include abandoned applications and expired or canceled registrations, click the “Include all inactive filings” radio button near the “Knockout Search” button.

Any Questions?

Please don’t hesitate to email support@tmtko.com with any questions! We are happy to help.