Check with TESS before getting the domain name business

So you think you have found the right domain name for your new online business and you're getting set to record it. Great! But I suggest you go to a site more before you start spending money. There may be a trademark issue and you do not need this!

TESS, or electronic search Trademark is a division of United States Patent and Trademark Office. TESS has the most updated list available on current trademark holders. TESS simply Google and you will see a page with several possible alternatives research. Put in your domain name, keywords, whatever it takes to get the best information and then hold your breath.

What we want is to make sure that no "likelihood of confusion" exists between your desired domain name and trademark of another. You can share tags with other brands, but if you think your domain name will be used to sell products or services similar to an existing brand, then you may want to find another name. You might not have a problem for years, but only when the company is starting to take off (and the owner of the competing brand begins to hear), presents the lawyers to your door.

If you are lucky the actual search TESS will take you to a page that shows no signs identical or similar. If you're just a little 'luck the page will display a series of similar marks and you can click on them for details about the products and services covered by that mark. Do not take a page as gospel. As Tess has pointed out, not all protected trademarks were registered with the United States Patent and Trademark Office, and should you decide to register the mark will not necessarily be accepted (Note: you will not get the fee back to the $ 375 if you're wrong).

How then can you be sure that you are not in violation of a trademark? You can not be. TESS suggests hiring a patent attorney to put the odds in your favor.

Sometimes it pays to do a little research before buying that perfect domain name business. Like the old carpenter saying goes, "measure twice and cut once." Before you find yourself in an untenable position expensive to go see Tess. And even then, like all business decisions, you have to play .......