In conjunction with your trademark counsel, you should carefully plan out how you will conduct international trademark searches. Since the strategy you select for international trademark searching will determine its cost and schedule, it is important to have this conversation with your trademark counsel early in the name development and selection process.

There is no single "right" way to conduct international trademark searches, as every company has its own unique set of marketing and legal issues to consider. However, you can get a realistic idea of your own time and cost considerations through discussion with your trademark counsel.

Working with your trademark attorney, you can develop a search strategy that takes into consideration:

• your required level of confidence regarding trademark availability (will a limited search suffice for now, or should you conduct comprehensive searches in all key markets?)
• your spending priorities (does it make more sense to spend the money to search names in every potential market now, or to limit the search parameters and reserve funds for business development and marketing efforts?)
• your projected market presence (if you never expect Country X to be a significant market for your product, is it worthwhile to conduct a trademark search in that country?)

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