You have to love the web. It is the ultimate manifestation of the concept of give me convenience or give me death! We can now access information that would have taken much more effort to see in the past. This doesn't always mean the information is accurate as many people have found with the online Trademark Office database.

The Patent and Trademark Office maintains an online database at its site. You can just log on and do various searches to see if anyone is using the name you have in mind for a trademark. It all seems so simple, but it presents a deadly trap for most users. How so? Well, problems arise in a number of ways.

A trademark is distinctive mark that the common consumer will recognize and associate with a company or brand. Think the Nike Swoosh and you have the idea. Anything that causes a consumer to be confused in relation to that mark is an infringement upon it. This is a huge simplification, but you get the idea.

Now imagine you get a business idea. You want to start a sports shoe line. The name will be Night because, hey, you've been reading a bunch of vampire books lately. You access the PTO database and do the search. What do you find? Hey, there is no "Night" registered for shoes. Time to apply!

Is your application going to be approved? No. Even if it somehow is, the attorneys for Nike will be in touch very quickly. It will ultimately be a mess, but it does point out a very big problem with the database. Phonetic matches are not noted. If you spell something differently than a current mark that sounds the same, you are going to be infringing but a search of the online database will never tell you as much.

What should you do? A professional trademark search is always advisable. Said searches will analyze issues like phonetic marks, marks filed with States instead of the Feds and so on. It is a far superior method for dealing with trademarks and making sure you know whether to move forward or not.