# Searching before you file > The USPTO will search for conflicting marks after you file, and its refusal will cost you the fee. What to search, where, and what the Office's new AI image search can and cannot do for you. Published 2026-10-21 Canonical: https://distinctive-mark.com/guides/searching-before-you-file/ Every application is examined for conflicts. The USPTO says that "the assigned USPTO examining attorney will search the federal database for conflicting trademarks" ([USPTO, likelihood of confusion](https://www.uspto.gov/trademarks/search/likelihood-confusion)). If the examining attorney finds a registered mark likely to be confused with yours, the application is refused under §2(d) of the Lanham Act ([15 U.S.C. §1052(d)](https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/15/1052)). The filing fee is not returned. A search before you file is how you learn about that conflict while it still costs nothing. ## What "conflict" means Two marks conflict when buyers are likely to think the goods come from the same source, or from related sources. The test is called **likelihood of confusion**. It weighs a list of factors set out in *In re E. I. du Pont de Nemours & Co.*, 476 F.2d 1357, 1361 (C.C.P.A. 1973). The two that usually decide it are: - **How similar the marks are** in appearance, sound, meaning and overall impression. Identical spelling is not required. "Kwik" and "Quick" can conflict, and so can a word and its foreign translation. - **How related the goods or services are.** The marks do not have to be on the same product. The question is whether buyers would expect one company to offer both. The USPTO asks, for example, whether the goods are used together, sold to the same buyers or advertised together. A search therefore looks for similar marks, not only identical ones, for related goods, not only the same goods. ## Where to search 1. **The USPTO's Trademark Search system** ([tmsearch.uspto.gov](https://tmsearch.uspto.gov/)). It is free and covers pending applications, registrations, and dead records that were abandoned or cancelled. Pending applications matter. An earlier-filed application can block yours if it registers (TMEP [§1208](https://tmep.uspto.gov/RDMS/TMEP/current)). Search for your exact wording, then for spelling variants, sound-alikes, plurals, translations, and each distinctive word on its own. 2. **Design marks.** Logos are indexed by **design search codes**, numbers that describe what a design shows, such as a stylized bird or a circle. Look up the codes for the main elements of your logo in the USPTO's Design Search Code Manual and search by those codes. 3. **Unregistered use.** In the United States you can acquire rights by using a mark, without registering it. An unregistered prior user can oppose your application, and in some areas it can stop your use (see [first to use, first to file](/guides/first-to-use-vs-first-to-file/)). Search the web, online marketplaces, app stores, business-name and state trademark records, and domain names. ## What the AI image search does Since [April 2, 2026](https://www.uspto.gov/subscription-center/2026/trademarks-introduces-ai-features-make-your-experience-easier), Trademark Search has offered an **image search**, labeled beta. You upload an image, and it returns marks with similar design elements. The USPTO compares it to searching by image on an internet search engine. You must log in to a USPTO.gov account to use it. Use it as a starting point: - It finds marks that **look** alike. It does not test whether the **goods are related**, which is half of the likelihood-of-confusion analysis. - The USPTO has not published figures on how often it misses relevant marks. A clean result is not evidence that no conflict exists. - It does not search wording. A logo containing words needs a word search as well. - It covers only the USPTO's records, not unregistered use. A separate AI tool, Class ACT, now assigns classes, design codes and searchable spelling variants to new applications within minutes of filing ([USPTO, Mar. 19, 2026](https://www.uspto.gov/about-us/news-updates/trademark-classification-goes-agentic-usptos-announcement-class-act-assistant)). New filings therefore appear in search results much sooner than they used to. A search from three months ago may already be out of date. Search again shortly before you file. ## Reading what you find - **Same mark, unrelated goods.** Often no conflict, unless the earlier mark is famous or the goods are commonly sold together. - **Similar mark, related goods.** The usual §2(d) refusal. Treat it as a serious risk. - **A registration its owner may not be using.** It still counts against you. Options exist to challenge it, including expungement and reexamination proceedings (USPTO fee $400 per class, [37 C.F.R. §2.6(a)(26)](https://www.uspto.gov/learning-and-resources/fees-and-payment/uspto-fee-schedule)) and cancellation at the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board. These cost money and time. Decide before you file whether the mark is worth that. - **Someone else's pending application that conflicts with your rights.** A **letter of protest** ($150, 37 C.F.R. §2.149) lets you send the examining attorney evidence, such as your own earlier registration, before the application is approved for publication. ## When an attorney earns their fee A free search tells you whether an obvious conflict exists. A professional clearance search, and an opinion on what it means, earns its fee when you have found similar marks and need to judge how close is too close. It also earns its fee when you are about to spend heavily on packaging, signage or a product launch, or when you plan to sell abroad. Search reports alone, without someone to interpret them, are of limited use. This guide is general information, not legal advice about any particular mark. For the empirical side of conflicts, see our commentary on [what the research says about examination outcomes](/commentary/what-the-research-says-about-trademark-examination/). For the AI tools, see [what the USPTO's AI does, and what it doesn't](/commentary/what-the-usptos-ai-does-in-trademark-examination/).