Knockout Search

Examiner-style search methods.
One query. Full audit trail.

Examiner-style search methods running against 14 million USPTO records. Phonetic matching, visual similarity, coordinated class expansion, pseudo-mark resolution, foreign translation, and a full audit trail documenting every step. Need a written report? Order a $79 clearance report with DuPont analysis.

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Tested against the USPTO’s own answer key. In an August 2026 test on nearly 500 real refused applications, our search surfaced the examiner’s cited registration in 9 of 10 cases. Method available on request.

8

Search methods per query

14M+

USPTO records searched

Seconds

Not hours of manual queries

Full

Audit trail on every search

Examiner Methodology

Every search method,
one query

Enter your mark once. The system runs exact match, pseudo-mark, phonetic, visual similarity, shared words, coordinated classes, word-level phonetic, and foreign translation — simultaneously. Every result shows which method found it and why.

Audit Trail

Every step documented —
not a black box

See exactly what was searched, how many matches each method found, and how results were ranked. The same audit trail you'd want if you were documenting your search methodology for a client.

Risk Assessment

Know your risk level
before you invest

Every search shows a risk breakdown: how many marks are critical conflicts, how many deserve review, and how many are low risk. See the highest-threat marks first, with similarity badges and class overlap indicators.

From mark name to risk assessment in four steps

What takes an hour on USPTO.gov takes seconds here. For a deeper look at any specific match, jump to side-by-side similarity analysis.

1

Enter your proposed mark

Type the mark name and optionally select Nice classes. The system automatically decomposes compound words and identifies phonetic variants. Optionally include dead marks to evaluate prior use history.

2

Results in seconds, not hours

Every search strategy runs simultaneously against 14M+ USPTO records. Results are organized by the method that found them — exact, pseudo-mark, phonetic, visual, component, and more.

3

Understand why each mark was flagged

Every result shows a similarity badge, the search method that surfaced it, and a plain-English explanation of why it's relevant. No black box.

4

Export or escalate

Download a PDF report for your file, or escalate high-risk marks to a full Clearance Report with DuPont analysis and written recommendation.

What every knockout search includes

The same depth an examiner brings — documented and exportable. Once a mark is filed, set up automated watch alerts so the next conflict surfaces before opposition windows close.

Examiner-style search methodology

Exact match, pseudo-mark, phonetic similarity, visual patterns, shared word components, shared words in coordinated classes, word-level phonetic, similar meaning, and foreign translation. Examiner-style search strategies, selected automatically for your mark — automated and documented.

Phonetic and visual matching

Finds marks that sound alike when spoken aloud and marks with similar letter patterns — the two factors that most often trigger Office Actions. Consumers encounter brands by ear and by glance; examiners test both.

Coordinated class expansion

Searches for marks sharing your word components in commercially related classes — not just your filed class. If you file in Class 25 (clothing), the system also checks Class 14 (jewelry) and Class 18 (bags) for marks with matching terms — because examiners do.

Foreign translation matching

Under the Doctrine of Foreign Equivalents, a mark in Spanish, French, or other languages is evaluated by its English meaning. The system detects foreign words and searches for their translations.

A record of what you actually searched

A dedicated How We Searched tab documents up to 29 named examiner-style strategies across 11 doctrinal families — each with the literal query that ran, how many marks it matched, and a plain-English note on the examiner practice behind it, several citing TMEP directly. Every conflict traces back to the strategies that caught it. It discloses its own limits too. If a cleared mark later draws a refusal, this is the contemporaneous record of what was searched and why.

AI compound word decomposition

Compound marks like BARLYTICS are automatically split into components (bar + lytics) so each word is tested independently. Catches conflicts that whole-mark searches miss.

Word-equivalence matching

LUV IT reaches LOVE IT. DOGGIE STYLE reaches OUTBACK HOUND — doggie to dog is a respelling, dog to hound is meaning, and the chain is exactly the one an examiner walks. We search more than 17,000 approved word pairs — nearly 9 in 10 attested somewhere other than AI — resolving into roughly 7,800 equivalence families, mined from the pairings examiners actually relied on in real refusals and from USPTO's own pseudo-mark readings. A conflict that shares almost no letters with your mark still surfaces.

Crowded field and goods overlap

See how dense the field already is around your mark — counted by distinct owners, not raw marks, because ten registrations from one owner is a family, not a crowded field. The thresholds follow Jack Wolfskin and Juice Generation. Enter your goods and services and each conflict is scored semantically against its actual recitation — not just whether the class numbers match — across a corpus covering more than 99% of live marks.

Owner context and side-by-side compare

Conflicts are grouped by owner and ranked by risk, so you can see every mark a given owner holds in your results rather than judging each hit in isolation. Hover any owner to see their TTAB record — oppositions, cancellations, and live proceedings — with an Aggressive Enforcer flag on owners who file often and usually as plaintiff. Pull two to four marks side by side for a direct comparison.

Your judgment, not just ours

Grade each conflict yourself, reorder them, hide the ones that do not matter, rewrite the reasoning in your own words, and add outside marks by serial number. Export that marked-up version as PDF or Excel — and when you edit our reasoning, the original is preserved alongside your version, so the record shows both.

PDF, Word, and Excel export

Generate a professional report with conflict tables, risk breakdown, search methodology documentation, and step-by-step appendices — as PDF, Word, or Excel. Ready for your client file.

Knockout Search vs. manual research

What used to take an hour of manual queries on USPTO.gov now takes seconds.

Capability
Knockout Search
USPTO.gov (Manual)Basic Keyword Tools
Search methods
Up to 29 examiner-style strategies, selected for your mark
1 query at a time (Boolean)Keyword only
Phonetic matching
Automated (Metaphone + Double Metaphone)
Manual query construction
Not available
Coordinated classes
Automatic expansion
Manual lookup
Not available
Foreign translation
Doctrine of Foreign Equivalents built in
Manual research
Not available
Results ranking
Scored by similarity + class overlap
Unranked listBasic relevance
Audit trail
Every step documented
No audit trailNo audit trail
Time per search
Seconds, not hours
30-60 minutes~10 seconds
Report export
PDF, Word, or Excel
Copy/paste
Not available

What a knockout search covers

Included

  • Complete USPTO federal database (14M records)
  • Examiner-style search strategies, selected for your mark
  • Phonetic + visual + component matching
  • Coordinated class expansion
  • Foreign translation (Doctrine of Foreign Equivalents)
  • AI compound word decomposition
  • Risk breakdown (Critical / Review / Low)
  • Full audit trail
  • PDF, Word, or Excel report export

Not included (available in Clearance Reports)

  • Goods & services commercial overlap scoring
  • Per-mark DuPont likelihood of confusion analysis
  • Written recommendation with reasoning
  • Domain availability checking
  • Web presence research
  • Executive summary
  • State or international registrations

Knockout searches are designed for fast screening. For marks that need deeper analysis, Clearance Reports add DuPont analysis, domain/web research, and a written recommendation.

Included in every paid plan

Knockout searches are included with your subscription — no per-search charges.

Starter

5 / month

$99/mo

  • All search methods
  • Full audit trail
  • PDF/Word export

Professional

25 / seat / month

$249/seat/mo

  • All search methods
  • Full audit trail
  • PDF/Word export
Most Popular

Max

Unlimited

$599–$699/seat/mo

  • All search methods
  • Full audit trail
  • PDF/Word export

Need deeper analysis?

For marks that need a written recommendation, per-mark DuPont likelihood of confusion analysis, domain and web presence research, and an executive summary for your client file — upgrade to a Clearance Report.

Learn About Clearance Reports

Frequently asked questions

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