What does a trademark clearance assessment include?

Who this is for

Anyone deciding whether to commit to a name before spending on packaging, inventory, a website, or a filing fee. It is also for people who have run a free search themselves, found nothing identical, and want to know what that actually proves.

What you receive

The deliverable is a written document plus a conversation, not a list of search hits. It contains:

• A written risk assessment. The analysis in plain language, not a raw results dump.
• An overall risk rating. A single clear judgment so the answer is not buried in hedging.
• Identification of key conflicts, if any. The specific marks that create the risk, and why each one matters.
• Strategic options for moving forward. Usually more than one, since the right move depends on your tolerance for risk and how committed you already are.
• A filing recommendation. A direct answer on whether to proceed, adjust, or reconsider.
• A strategy call. Time with John to work through the findings and ask questions.

What is actually searched

Searching happens at three levels, and the difference between them is the difference between "nothing identical" and "no meaningful conflict."

Preliminary knockout

A fast check for identical and near-identical marks, used to rule out the obvious before deeper work is worth doing. Useful, but on its own it answers a much narrower question than most people assume.

Federal register

A closer review of pending and registered marks at the USPTO, looking past exact matches to wording, sound, meaning, and overall commercial impression that could support a refusal.

Common-law and marketplace

A review of unregistered but marketplace-visible use: business names, product listings, domains, and similar sources. This matters because trademark rights in the United States can exist through use alone, without any registration, and an unregistered prior user can still cause you problems.

What the analysis actually weighs

A conflict is not determined by whether two names look alike in a spreadsheet. The USPTO compares marks in their entireties for appearance, sound, meaning, and commercial impression, then weighs that against the relationship between the goods or services.

Two consequences follow, and they are the two that surprise people most:

• Different spellings can still conflict. Marks that sound alike or convey the same idea can be treated as confusingly similar even when the letters differ.
• The goods do not have to be identical. They only have to be related enough that buyers might assume a common source.

This is also why adding a house mark or a descriptive word to a crowded term often fails to solve the problem. What a Section 2(d) refusal actually means goes further into how that comparison is made.

What it does not include, and what no search can promise

The assessment covers the marks and classes you request. Pricing is per mark and class combination: $295 for one, $495 for two, $650 for three, $800 for four, then $150 for each one beyond that. The online form handles up to 7 combinations; larger portfolios are quoted directly. The following sit outside the assessment whatever its size, and are quoted separately once the scope is clear:

• More than 7 mark and class combinations, which are quoted directly rather than through the online form
• Protection outside the United States
• A formal search of state trademark registers and corporate name registries. State records are reviewed informally as part of the assessment; a formal state search is scoped separately.
• A formal legal opinion letter of the kind sometimes required for financing or diligence. The written assessment covers much of the same ground and can be upgraded to a formal opinion on request.
• Advising on an existing dispute, demand letter, or pending proceeding

When a broader search is worth it

The standard assessment is the right size for most first filings. A wider search is usually worth considering where the mark is a common word or built from familiar roots, where the category is already crowded, where you will sell across several classes, where substantial money is committed before launch, or where you plan to expand internationally.

If that applies, say so at intake and the scope can be quoted before anything begins.

How delivery and payment work

1. You complete the intake and sign the limited-scope agreement online.
2. You save a payment method. Nothing is charged to submit.
3. John runs a conflict check and either confirms he can accept the matter, asks for more information, proposes a revised scope, or declines it.
4. On acceptance, your assessment fee is charged to your saved payment method without further action from you, and work begins.
5. The search and analysis are carried out. About ten business days from acceptance is normal for a single mark, and larger bundles take longer. This is a normal timeframe rather than a guaranteed one, and John will tell you if your matter is going to take longer. Guaranteed 24-hour and 48-hour turnaround can be added for $500 and $200 respectively.
6. The written assessment is delivered and the strategy call is scheduled.

If the matter is declined at conflict review, there is no charge.

The credit toward filing

If you retain the firm for a Full Filing on a mark and class covered by the assessment within 30 days of delivery, $295 is credited toward that filing's attorney fee. The total credited across all filings will not exceed the assessment fee you paid, and the 30 days run from the date the written assessment is delivered.

In practice that means the filing attorney fee becomes $400 rather than $695, plus the USPTO fee of $350 per class. Full figures are on the pricing page.

Why this is not the same as a free search

The USPTO's public database is free and worth looking at. What it does not do is tell you whether what it returns is a problem. That judgment is the entire product here. Why a free database search is not a clearance opinion covers the difference in more detail.