How it works
From a name on a napkin to a mark under watch.
Five steps, the same way every time. Each is written for someone who has never read a trade mark specification.
Reading the charts
One way of drawing a result.
Everything here is plotted, nothing is illustrated: one set of range rings, three bearings for sound, look and meaning, names in Tall Man letters, and magenta means hazard and only hazard: the closest mark on a collision course, the pale zone inside the 75 ring, and the date by which you must act on an opposition window.
- Sound
- Look
- Meaning
Key
- In your classes
- Outside your classes
- Closest mark
- Italic: pending, or in its opposition window
Step 1 of 5
Enter the name.
Type the name itself, not a description of it. The distinctive word is what a conflict turns on, so that is the word to check.
A mark is a name registered, or applied for, as a trade mark. Notum reads your name against marks on UK register records, and everything it shows you is about those records.
Proposed name
SWIFTKETTLE
Step 2 of 5
Choose the classes that matter.
Marks are registered for classes of goods and services, 45 in all. The same word can be free in one class and taken in another: a cake and a café sit in different classes.
There are three ways to choose, and you can accept, add or remove what is suggested.
- Start from your SIC code. It is the industry code on your Companies House record. Notum suggests the classes it maps to, with a reason for each.
- Describe the business. Write a line such as handmade candles, and Notum suggests classes from that, on Professional and Practice.
- Choose directly. Pick from the 45 yourself.
If in doubt, include a class: a missed class is a missed conflict. You can also search with no classes chosen, to see close marks in every class.
SIC 10831 Tea processing
Suggested classes, strongest first
- Class 30Coffee, tea, cocoa, sugar, rice, flour, bread, pastries, and condiments
Illustrative example. Not a live result. The codes and classes are from Notum’s own mapping.
Step 3 of 5
Read every close mark three ways.
Notum reads each close mark against yours on three bearings: how it sounds, how it looks and what it means. Disputes are argued on exactly those near matches, and an exact-match search cannot see them.
Every score comes with its reason, written out, such as which letters the two names share. Names are set in Tall Man letters, as pharmacies set medicines with look-alike names: the letters a mark shares with yours are heavy, the letters that differ are light. An italic name is pending, or still inside its opposition window.
Sound
SWYFT KETEL
The two names said aloud: over the phone, across a busy shop, by someone who has only heard them.
Look
SWIFTKITTLE
The two names written down: the letters they share, their order and their length.
Meaning
FLEETKETTLE
What each name means. Two different words can carry the same idea.
Illustrative example. Not a live result. Marks are invented.
Step 4 of 5
Read the verdict and the ranked list.
Every check ends in one sentence: collision course, crowded or open water. Under it come three reasons in plain words, and one next step.
Below that is the ranked list of close marks, closest first. Each row gives the mark, its proprietor (the person or company that holds it), its classes, its status and its band.
Every result also says which register it read, the date, and what it did not cover. A search of the UK register says so, and says that EU and international marks are not covered.
- Collision course
- 75 to 100
- Marks very close to yours in the records read.
- Crowded
- 50 to 74
- Marks with real overlap in the records read.
- Open water
- 0 to 49
- Only distant matches in the records read.
Step 5 of 5
Decide what to do next.
A band measures closeness in the records Notum read. It is not a ruling on whether an application would succeed, and it is not legal advice.
With the picture in front of you, there are three sensible paths.
- 01
Open water
Only distant matches turned up
A good sign for the records read, and not a guarantee. Look through the nearest marks and the IPO register yourself, and take advice before you file.
- 02
Crowded
Marks with real overlap
Read the reasons. Narrowing your classes can reduce the overlap, and a more distinctive name is likely to meet less resistance. Consider advice from a trade mark attorney before you file.
- 03
Collision course
A mark very close to yours
Treat it as a likely conflict. Try another name, or take advice from a trade mark attorney before you file or spend on the name.
The report
A report to keep or hand over.
Any check can be saved as a risk screening report, a PDF. It carries the verdict and its reasons, the chart, how many marks fell into each band, the ranked list, and the register and dates it read, with the coverage notice.
Keep it, share it with a partner, or give it to your trade mark attorney as a starting point.
The certificate
Planned: a certificate anyone can check.
Planned. A Name Certificate will be a shareable record of one check: the name, the band, the chart, the coverage and the date. It will carry a link and a QR code that open a verification page. That page will confirm the facts match the certificate Notum issued and that nothing has changed since.
A certificate will record one screening, whichever band it found. It will not confirm that a name can be registered or used.
The filing pack
Notum prepares the filing pack. You file.
For the name you decide to use, the filing pack prepares the application: your classes with a reason for each, the goods and services wording, whether a series applies, and the UK IPO fee.
Then it hands you to the UK IPO’s own service on GOV.UK. You file there and pay the UK IPO there. Notum does not file the application and does not collect the fee.
After you file
Then it keeps watching.
A new application close to your mark opens a short, fixed window in which it can be opposed. Notum watches for close new applications as they are published, and tells you with the same reasons a search gives and the date the window closes. Watch is in early access.
Scope
What Notum does, and where a professional comes in.
Notum searches, scores and watches. It does not give legal advice, say whether a mark will be accepted, or file an application for you. Those belong to a qualified trade mark attorney.
Use Notum to look widely and narrow a shortlist, then take the name you choose to a professional, so their time goes on judgement and not legwork.
Tell us what you are naming.
Early access is by invitation. Tell us the name you are weighing up and we will be in touch.