World 6 · Global IP Navigator · Lesson 22

Researching official IP databases

Official databases are the best place to start — provided you know what they leave out, and record exactly what you searched.

5 min
Jurisdictions: International / treaty, Australia, Vietnam, United States, European Union
Last reviewed: 19 October 2026

Draft — awaiting editorial review

Educational content, not legal advice. Lessons are drafts awaiting editorial review.

You will learn to

Choose the right official database for trade marks, patents and industrial designs.
Explain why "no results" is not clearance.
Record the search scope: database, date, terms, classes and countries.

A map of the databases

WIPO offers three free aggregated tools: the Global Brand Database (trade marks), PATENTSCOPE (PCT applications and many national patent collections) and the Global Design Database. TMview and DesignView bring together trade mark and design data from EUIPO and participating offices. National registers still matter: IP Australia, IP Vietnam (WIPO Publish) and the USPTO each have their own search tools. Aggregated tools are good for a wide sweep; the national register is usually where you confirm the current status of an application or registration.

Why "no results" is not an answer

Every database has gaps. Not every office shares data with the aggregated tools, and data can arrive late. Patent applications are usually unpublished for a period after filing, so recent filings may not appear yet. Names with Vietnamese diacritics, Japanese script or translations can be missed if you search only one spelling. Figurative marks need image or classification searches, not just words. And no register shows unregistered rights, such as a mark used in trade without registration, or copyright.

Record the search scope

A search is only useful when someone else can tell what it covered. For every search, record: the database name, the date, the exact terms and variants used, the classes or patent classification codes, the countries or offices included, any status filters, the number of results and any notable hits. Record what you did not search, too. That record lets you repeat the search later, and saves a specialist from starting again.

Try a scenario

Minh, a Da Nang software developer, is about to launch a payments app called "LotusPay" in the US and Japan. He searched the exact name in the Global Brand Database and found nothing.

What is the best next step?

Conclude the name is clear in the US and Japan, and launch.A social media search is enough on top.Record the first search, then search variants and translations in the US and Japanese registers, and treat the result as preliminary.

Check your understanding

PracticePractice testSee the explanation after each question.

Pass mark: 80% — for this lesson that means every question.

Question 1 of 4An Adelaide engineer searches PATENTSCOPE with three English keywords for her water-filter device and finds nothing close.Why is this result not enough?

Keywords can miss other wording, recent applications may not be published yet, and classification codes should be searched too.PATENTSCOPE contains only expired patents.It is enough — three keywords is the standard.

Take away

Before trusting an empty result, write down the database, date, terms, classes and countries — if you cannot, you do not yet know what you checked.

Apply it to your IP

Nothing runs or is saved on its own. Each option only opens a tool when you choose it.

What this lesson cannot tell you

This lesson teaches preliminary searching. Assessing similarity, unregistered rights or freedom to operate needs a specialist, and no search covers every country.