I. EU Trademark Search
(1) EU Trademark Search
(2) Enter the website and the interface will appear. Enter the trademark name and click “search”
(3) If there is no similar trademark, the results will appear.
II. US Trademark Search
(1) Open the search link and enter the interface. Click “TESS”.
(2) Click “Basic Word Mark Search (New User)”.
(3) Enter the trademark name in “Search Term” and click “Submit Query”.
(4) Taking “fidget” as an example, 102 matching similar trademarks were found.
III. EU Patent Search
(1) Open the search link and the following interface will appear. Enter the name of the design or keyword in the box and click “Search”.
(2) Taking “fidget spinner” as an example, 11 matching records were found. You can click on them one by one to see the specific application date, application number, application country, status, etc.
IV. US Patent Search
(1) Open the search link to enter the interface and select the search method in the box: “Quick Search”, “Advanced Search”, “Patent Number Search”. Generally, “Quick Search” is sufficient.
(2) Enter the patent keyword you want to search for in “Term 1” and click “Search” to display the results.
Search for the keyword “Spinner Toy” and there are 10 matching records. Click in and compare them one by one. If you think the two are similar and will cause confusion, then there is a risk of infringement.
Previously, there was a saying that a product’s appearance is dissimilar as long as there are a certain number of “points” that are different. In fact, this is misleading. Similarity should be judged based on different products, rather than simply looking at the number of “points” that are different.
The judgment should be based on the vision and cognitive level of ordinary consumers, not the aesthetic observation ability of the owner of the design patent. When two products have the same overall shape and visual effects, but only partial microscopic inconsistencies, there is a high probability of risk, because this “inconsistency” may be a detail that consumers will not notice.
Compared to patent infringement, trademark infringement is easier to determine. As long as someone uses another person’s trademark without authorization or applies for a highly similar trademark, it is an infringement. However, patent infringement, such as appearance patents, is not only complex but also difficult to determine, especially for common products with many styles. New model B is a variant of new model A. New model B does not meet the conditions for applying for appearance patents, but this does not mean that B will infringe on the appearance of A. For products that are not similar to the original styles but cannot obtain appearance patent protection, the recommended approach is to apply for trademarks and shape the brand style through brand effects.