How to Check for Trademarks and Other Keyword Research Mistakes to Avoid | Video #4.2

About this video

Sean shows how he checks whether a candidate keyword is trademarked before publishing, stressing he is not a lawyer and that if a term is iffy, authors should take the safe side and skip it. He goes to USPTO.gov, opens Trademarks, Searching Trademarks, then the Trademark Electronic Search System basic word mark search, and searches the exact phrase. The best result is no records found. If results appear, he checks whether they are live or dead, looks for exact matches, and reads the goods and services field to see what the trademark actually covers — a mark covering only supplements does not automatically cover books, but the owner could later extend it, so he still advises avoiding it. His main example is South Beach Diet, which he finds live and covering books and cookbooks, so he would not publish in it. He gives a second warning for non-trademarked phrases: Emotional Intelligence 2.0 and similar imitations of a famous book, or pen names resembling the original author, can draw one-star reviews from buyers who feel misled, so use a distinct variation instead.

Key takeaways

• Check keywords on USPTO.gov via the Trademark Electronic Search System basic word mark search before publishing
• Look for exact matches, check live versus dead status, and read the goods and services to see what the mark covers
• Sean uses South Beach Diet as a live trademark example that covers books and cookbooks and should be avoided
• Even if a mark currently covers only other products, the owner could extend it to books later, so take the safe side
• Avoid copying a famous book’s distinctive title or using a similar pen name, even for generic phrases, because misled buyers leave negative reviews

Episode details: published May 26, 2020 · 12:28 long. Summary written by Self Growth Videos from the episode itself. Business results and any income figures mentioned are Sean Dollwet’s own claims, shared for education — they are not typical or guaranteed.

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