New USPTO tool makes it easier for public to see if their trademark is unique

On or about Saturday, August 24, 2013, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) will be adding an optional tool to the regular Trademark Electronic Application System (TEAS) application form (i.e., non-TEAS Plus) to help applicants enter acceptable, multiple identifications of goods and services (IDs). (The tool will not appear in the TEAS PLUS application.)

The section for entering free-text IDs will be expanded to include a new "ID Assistance" tool. This will allow the user to enter one or more IDs for comparison to entries in the USPTO's Acceptable Identification of Goods and Services Manual (ID Manual). The tool will inform the user if a listed good or service is an identical match to an ID Manual entry, is a possible match, or is not found.

The tool is USPTO’s first ID selection tool for the public and is very basic; they expect to develop more sophisticated ID selection tools in the future.