TESS Replacement

The TESS You Loved. Rebuilt.

When TESS went offline, attorneys lost the only search tool that matched how they actually work. GleanMark brings it back — step-by-step queries, phonetic expansion, boolean set operations, and an auditable session log across 14 million USPTO marks.

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Every Competitor Has Keyword Search.
None of Them Have This.

Corsearch, CompuMark, and Saegis offer keyword search with filters. That's not how examiners search. Examiners build structured queries — step by step, narrowing with set operations, expanding with phonetic patterns. That workflow only existed in TESS. Now it exists in GleanMark.

Examiner-Grade Search Capabilities

Mark Name + Wildcards

Prefix, suffix, and contains matching with * wildcards. Search exactly the way TESS let you.

Phonetic Expansion

One-click character class patterns that find marks that sound like yours — the same technique examiners use.

Boolean Set Operations

AND, OR, NOT across numbered steps. Compound expressions like (3 6) AND 8 work just like X-Search.

Goods & Services Search

Full-text search across 14M goods descriptions. Filter by Nice class, design codes, register type.

Step-by-Step Session Log

Every search is a numbered step with a human-readable description and raw TESS-style query syntax.

Auditable Search Record

Your session log documents exactly what you searched, in what order, and what you found — ready for the file.

TESS Feature Comparison — What's the Same, What's New

Side-by-side feature comparison

FeatureTESSGleanMark
Mark name with wildcards
Owner name search
Nice class filtering
Coordinated class expansion
Design search codes
Goods & Services text search
Boolean set operations (AND/OR/NOT)
Compound expressions: (3 6) AND 8
Numbered step log
Phonetic expansion patterns
Trademark preview on hover
Owner portfolio links
Class description tooltips
Session persistence across pages
Send results to Knockout SearchSoon
Export X-Search formatSoon
Raw regex pattern inputSoon

Built for Trademark Professionals

Prosecution Associates

Build the same structured search sessions you did in TESS — step by step, with phonetic expansion and set operations — then document your work in the file.

Clearance Attorneys

Run examiner-grade searches as the foundation of a clearance opinion. Combine mark name, phonetic, and class-filtered steps to build a comprehensive record.

IP Paralegals

Search exactly the way the examining attorney will. Identify potential conflicts before filing and document your methodology for attorney review.

Why Attorneys Need a Real TESS Replacement

When the USPTO retired TESS (Trademark Electronic Search System) in November 2023, trademark attorneys lost the only search tool that supported the structured, step-by-step workflow used in every trademark examination. TESS wasn't just a search engine — it was a workbench for building complex queries, combining results with boolean logic, and producing an auditable record of your search methodology.

The X-Search Summary — the document attached to every trademark prosecution file — is the standard format for documenting how an examining attorney searched. It shows numbered steps, TESS query syntax, result counts, and set operations. Attorneys who conduct trademark clearance searches and prosecution research relied on this same workflow for decades.

What Made TESS Different from Keyword Search

Most trademark search tools — including Corsearch, CompuMark, Saegis, and the current USPTO search at TSDR — offer keyword search with filters. You type a term, apply some checkboxes, and get a flat list of results. That's useful for quick lookups, but it doesn't support the iterative, analytical workflow that examiners use.

In TESS, every search was a numbered step. You could run a broad mark name search (Step 1), then a phonetic pattern search (Step 2), then combine them: 1 AND 2 to find the intersection. You could exclude results: 3 NOT 1. You could build compound expressions: (3 6) AND 8. GleanMark's TESS Search replicates all of this.

How GleanMark's Structured Search Works

GleanMark's TESS Search lets you build queries using a form interface — mark name with wildcards, owner name, Nice classes with coordinated class expansion, Goods & Services full-text search, and design search codes. Each search adds a numbered step to your session log, showing both a human-readable description and the raw TESS-style query syntax.

Once you have multiple steps, you can combine them with AND (intersection), OR (union), or NOT (difference) — including compound expressions with parentheses. The session log builds exactly the way an X-Search Summary does, step by step.

Results include trademark hover previews (status, owner, dates, and trademark image on hover), clickable owner portfolio links, and Nice class description tooltips. You can use them as the foundation for a Clearance Report, with the ability to send results directly to a Knockout Search coming soon.

Phonetic Expansion for Trademark Clearance

One of the most powerful features of TESS was phonetic pattern matching — using regex character classes to find marks that sound similar. For example, searching for GORILLA with the pattern [gj][ou]r[aeiouy]l[aeiouy] catches JORILLA, GURILLA, and other phonetic variants.

GleanMark's Phonetic button generates these character class patterns automatically, using the same six substitution rules observed in real USPTO examining attorney searches. This is essential for thorough trademark clearance and prosecution work.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is this a replacement for TESS?

It replicates the core TESS workflow — structured queries, numbered steps, boolean set operations, and an auditable session log. We analyzed 217,000 real X-Search documents from USPTO prosecution files to build this.

What search fields are supported?

Mark name (with wildcards), owner name, Goods & Services (full-text), Nice classes (with coordinated class expansion), design search codes, status (Live/Dead/All), mark type, and register type.

How do set operations work?

Each search creates a numbered step. You can combine steps with AND (intersection), OR (union), or NOT (difference). Compound expressions like (3 6) AND 8 work just like in X-Search — parenthesized groups are implicit OR.

Can I use phonetic search patterns?

Yes. Click the Phonetic button next to the mark name field to generate character class patterns (e.g., [gj][ou]r[aeiouy]l[aeiouy] for GORILLA). These are the same substitution rules used by USPTO examining attorneys.

Will you add raw regex/query input?

Yes. Switch to Query Mode in the search form to type TESS-style field code syntax directly — for example: *aurora*[comb] AND "028"[ic] AND NOT dead[ld]. The form also generates these queries automatically.

What plan is required?

TESS Search is available on Professional plans and above. The step log, set operations, and all search fields are included.

Can I export my search session?

Export in X-Search Summary format is coming soon. The session log is designed to match the format attorneys are used to from TESS.

Search Like an Examiner

Start building structured search sessions today.

Competitor pricing and features are based on publicly available information as of May 2026 and may change. GleanMark is not affiliated with the companies named.