2. Watching Services and Clearance Reports Another way medtech trademark owners can identify potent

2. Watching Services and Clearance Reports
Another way medtech trademark owners can identify potential trademark infringement is by subscribing to a third-party trademark watching service. Trademark watching services identify and analyze newly published trademark applications and send timely notices of any identical and confusingly similar marks to the trademark owner. A trademark attorney can provide this service as well as work with third party vendors to carefully tailor the watching service to a medical device company’s needs. Trademark watching services are designed to detect any conflicting trademark applications as soon as they are publicly available and can be limited to the United States or include foreign countries.

Another good practice to identify potential infringing activity is to order periodic trademark clearance search reports. Search reports typically are used when a company is deciding on the availability of a mark prior to application. However, this also can be a helpful tool in monitoring the marketplace for possible infringement of a company’s trademark. The same third-party vendors that offer watching services also can provide clearance search reports to medtech companies as needed. However, because clearance search reports can include a large amount of information from a wide variety of sources, these reports can be difficult to navigate. Prudent companies should engage trademark counsel to identify the types of report and frequency needed, as well as help summarize and prioritize any potential infringements identified in a clearance report.