I have a logo design idea that I've put together, how can I check if the logo or idea has already been used elsewhere?

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    Post it here so we can give a more informed comment? – Lucian Jan 23 '17 at 7:24
  • If you are truly concerned about conflict then one thing you might ask about is whether or not something like "logo insurance" exists. Even if your work is truly original, what's stopping from someone else from plagiarizing yours and then taking you to court? With some sort of insurance you will be able to get qualified lawyers to defend you in court with no money out of your pocket. My vision of "logo insurance" falls along the same lines as title insurance for a house. If it does exist then I am certain it would be less expensive than re-branding the company. – MonkeyZeus Jan 23 '17 at 15:08

The answer you probably aren't going to like....

A Trademark Search

See here -> US Patent office: Conducting a Trademark Search

If you are truly interested in ensuring a logo or brand is not in use elsewhere, you customarily hire someone to do a trademark search. There are attorneys which specialize in trademarks and patents.

This is similar to when you register a business name, a search should be performed to ensure you aren't infringing on some other business already in the same market.

You can do reverse image searching and all that, but really those will only placate your immediate gratification urges. Although in some cases that may be enough. These types of searches are in no way sufficient for legal means. They are merely a cursory examination of what may be on the internet not everything which may exist. There are millions of brands and logos which may very well not be on the internet.

But if you want to legally be certain you have a unique mark... you generally need a professional (customarily an attorney) to search for you. They know the ins and outs of any issues.

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    There are things that aren't on the internet??? – Cai Jan 23 '17 at 14:08

If it's a monogram search the letters on Google and see if they've been used before.

Upload your logo to tinyeye.com and Google's reverse image search to see if it looks like something that's been used before.

If you made it from scratch not copying anything you can be pretty sure it's yours, unique and safe to use.

If it looks possibly like another brand then you might run into legal trouble and could be told to take it down.

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    In practice i have found that this does not work as well as one would like to. – joojaa Jan 23 '17 at 10:31
  • Did you mean tineye.com ? – Locoluis Jan 23 '17 at 16:39

Reverse image search on Google is one way to see if there is a similar logo mark out there. Go to Google and click images at the top. You can drag and drop your image in the search bar or browse to upload your image file there. google reverse image search

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