Frequently asked questions
How GleanMark works, what the free plan includes, and how your data is handled.
- How does GleanMark compare to USPTO.gov?
- GleanMark indexes the same 14 million USPTO trademark records as USPTO.gov, but with phonetic search, daily-refreshed monitoring alerts, conflict scoring in its clearance tools, and an AI research agent. The USPTO's free search tool requires exact spellings and offers no monitoring; GleanMark returns results in about two seconds and tracks status changes for the marks on your watchlist — 3 on the free plan, 15 on Starter, unlimited from Professional. Both tools are free to search. GleanMark also has clearance analysis, Office Action drafting and prosecution-history timelines, which the USPTO does not provide and which need a paid plan.
- Is the free tier really free, or is it a trial?
- The free tier is permanent. Every new account starts with a 7-day Professional trial first — no credit card — and drops to the free plan when it ends. The free plan includes unlimited trademark search across all 14 million USPTO records, monitoring for up to 3 trademarks, basic alerts, and one portfolio; if you added more than 3 marks during the trial, monitoring pauses on the rest until you upgrade. No credit card is required to sign up. Paid plans add features like AI-powered clearance analysis, Office Action response drafting, larger monitoring quotas, and team workspaces — but the core search remains free forever.
- Does GleanMark search state trademarks or international marks?
- No. GleanMark covers United States federal trademark registrations from the USPTO only. State trademark registries and foreign registers such as EUIPO are not in scope. Madrid Protocol applications that designate the United States are in scope — they become USPTO records and we index them — but the WIPO international register itself is not. For comprehensive global clearance, GleanMark is best used alongside region-specific tools — but for any US-federal trademark question, our database matches what the USPTO publishes.
- How current is the trademark data?
- GleanMark refreshes the USPTO database daily. New filings, status changes, and prosecution events typically appear in GleanMark within 24 hours of being published by the USPTO. Monitoring alerts fire on the same daily refresh cycle, so a status change recorded by an examiner on Monday usually triggers an alert by Tuesday morning — about seven times in ten, with the rest arriving over the following day or two. Trademark records go back to 1870, the earliest US registrations; the prosecution-event archive starts in 1901.
- What is a phonetic trademark search and when do I need one?
- A phonetic search finds trademarks that sound similar to your mark even when spelled differently — for example, matching "KWIK" with "QUICK" or "BRIGHTLEAF" with "BRYTLEEF". This matters because USPTO examiners and TTAB judges evaluate likelihood of confusion partly on sound similarity under the DuPont factors. GleanMark uses double-metaphone and trigram algorithms to surface sound-alike marks that exact-text searches miss — essential for clearance work before filing.
- Can I use GleanMark for trademark clearance before filing?
- Yes. GleanMark's clearance workflow combines exact-text search, phonetic matching, owner overlap, and Nice-class coordination to surface conflicts an examiner is likely to cite under Section 2(d). For each potential conflict, the platform runs a DuPont factor analysis comparing mark similarity, goods/services overlap, and channels of trade. The result is a structured clearance report you can attach to a client memo or share with outside counsel. GleanMark does not provide legal advice or file applications — those steps require a licensed trademark attorney.
- Does GleanMark file trademarks for me?
- No. GleanMark is a research, monitoring, and intelligence platform — not a filing service. The product is built for IP attorneys and brand teams who want better tools than the USPTO website for the work they already do: clearance, prosecution, monitoring, and portfolio management. For actual filing, we recommend hiring a licensed trademark attorney; GleanMark's attorney search can help you find one.
- Is my data used to train AI models?
- No. GleanMark does not train or fine-tune models on customer content, and its business agreements with every AI provider prohibit them from training on it either. Each customer workspace is isolated at the database layer, data is stored in US data centers, raw AI logs are deleted automatically after 90 days, and account deletion is self-serve and permanent. Full details — including a downloadable two-page Security Pack for IT reviewers — are at gleanmark.com/security.