How can I check if a brand name is trademarked?
Search the official trade mark register for your jurisdiction before adopting a brand name. In the UK, the Intellectual Property Office lets you check by keyword, phrase, image, owner or mark number, and Jersey and Guernsey keep separate registers you must check individually.
Before you print packaging or register a company, run the name through the official trade mark register. In the UK, the Intellectual Property Office provides a search service specifically so you can check whether a similar trade mark to your brand already exists and find out who owns an existing trade mark.
[1]Four ways to run the search
- By trade mark number, if you already have a reference from packaging or a legal letter.
- By owner, which is useful when you want everything registered by a particular company.
- By keyword, phrase or image, which is the usual starting point for checking a name you hope to use.
- By flag, emblem or hallmark, using the Article 6ter Express Database, for protected state symbols.
A common mistake is to search only for the exact spelling. The register search exists to surface similar marks, not just identical ones, so vary the phrasing and try plausible alternative spellings before concluding a name is clear. Note that the gov.uk guidance does not define how similar is too similar for legal purposes, that is a judgement call, and if the stakes are high a trade mark attorney is the sensible next stop.
[1]Do not forget the Crown dependencies
A UK search does not cover everything bearing on the British Isles. Jersey and Guernsey each maintain their own trade mark registers, and the gov.uk guidance directs you to search those registers separately for marks in those jurisdictions. If your market could extend to the Channel Islands, budget time for both additional searches rather than assuming the UK register speaks for them.
[1]Catch recent applications in the journal
Registers show marks that already exist, but a name can be in the pipeline. The Intellectual Property Office publishes an online trade marks journal listing applications accepted in the last week, covering both UK marks and international marks that designate the UK. Guernsey publishes its own online journal for Guernsey marks. Checking the journal means a name that is not yet on the register will not slip past you.
[1]A worked example
Suppose, purely as a hypothetical, you plan to launch a coffee brand called Harbour Roast in the UK. You would search the UK register by keyword for the phrase and its components, then search by image if you have a logo draft. Finding a registered Harbour Roast for tea raises an obvious conflict. Finding Harbour Roast for plumbing fittings is less obvious, and the gov.uk guidance does not tell you whether that blocks you, so that is where professional advice earns its fee. You would then check the Jersey and Guernsey registers if you sell there, and skim the journal for freshly accepted applications using similar wording.
[1]Where ownership tracing fits in
Once a search reveals who owns a conflicting mark, ownership-tracing tools can help you understand the company behind it, including how large its brand portfolio is and how it structures its holdings. Who Owns This Brand publishes sourced brand-to-company relationships across more than thirty thousand brand records, with each claim labelled by evidence type, though it traces ownership rather than trade mark status, so the register search remains the authoritative step for the legal question.
[2]A practical sequence: search the UK register by keyword and phrase, check the Jersey and Guernsey registers if relevant, skim the journal for new applications, and only then take your shortlist to a professional for an opinion on similarity. Do this before spending money on branding.
[1]Sources and dates
- https://www.gov.uk/search-for-trademark · accessed 2026-10-18
- https://whoownsthisbrand.com/ · accessed 2026-10-18