hermes-skills/skills/research/brand-name-availability-research/SKILL.md

name, description, platforms

name	description	platforms
brand-name-availability-research	Research the availability of a brand/game/product name across USPTO trademarks, domain WHOIS, app stores, game platforms, and general web — produce a structured conflict assessment with actionable recommendations.	linux macos

Brand / Name Availability Research

When to use

When asked to check if a name (game title, brand, product, SaaS name) is available for use — covering:

• Trademark conflicts — USPTO registration status for the name in relevant classes
• Domain availability — WHOIS lookup on .com and alternatives
• Platform conflicts — Steam, App Store, Google Play, Meta Quest, itch.io, etc.
• Existing products — Board games, tabletop, mobile apps, VR experiences using the same name
• Name variants — Multiple spellings (two-word, one-word, hyphenated, combined)

Core workflow

1. Parallel initial sweep (batch all independent searches)

Fire off all discovery searches simultaneously — they don't depend on each other:

- web_search: USPTO trademark query for "name" game class 9 class 41
- web_search: "Name" game Steam PC
- web_search: "Name" mobile game App Store Google Play
- web_search: "Name" trademark
- web_search: "Name" game board game card game

2. USPTO trademark deep-dive

Two complementary approaches:

Approach A: TSDR direct lookup (if you have a serial/registration number from step 1)

• Navigate to https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=<SN>&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch
• Key fields to extract: Mark, Serial/Registration Number, Filing/Registration Date, Status (Live/Dead/Cancelled), Status Date, Goods/Services description, Class
• DEAD/Cancelled marks pose no conflict. Focus on LIVE/Registered marks in Classes 9 (software/games) and 41 (entertainment services).

Approach B: USPTO Trademark Search system (for names without known serial numbers)

• Navigate to https://www.uspto.gov/trademarks/search
• Click the "Trademark Search system" link (ref @e43 in the snapshot)
• Select "Wordmark" from the search refinement dropdown
• Type the name into the search combobox and click search
• Use the LIVE filter (default) to see active marks; the DEAD count shows total historical filings
• Filter by class: Class 9 (Electrical and Scientific Apparatus — includes game software) and Class 41 (Education and Entertainment — includes game services)
• Click result lines to expand details

Approach C: Justia Trademarks (alternative, often easier)

• Search site:trademarks.justia.com "Name" class 009 OR class 041
• Or browse by serial number if you have one

3. Domain WHOIS check

Run WHOIS on multiple name variants:

# Check primary name and alternatives
for domain in name.com namegame.com playname.com names.io; do
  whois "$domain" 2>/dev/null | head -20
  echo "--- $domain ---"
done

Key info to extract: Registrar, Create Date, Expiry Date, Status (taken/available), Nameservers.

Pricing reference for domain recommendations:

Registrar	.com price	Notes
Cloudflare	~$10.46/yr	At-cost, no markup, recommended
Namecheap	~$10.69/yr	Includes free WhoisGuard privacy
GoDaddy	~$12.17/yr	Markup + upsells, avoid if possible
Porkbun	~$9.67/yr	Cheapest, good API, rising in popularity

• Domains registered through Cloudflare can't be transferred out for 60 days, but renewals are always at cost
• All registrars above include free WHOIS privacy
• Premium domains (short, dictionary words) are priced independently by the registry and can be $100-$10,000+ — always verify pricing on the checkout page before recommending

4. Platform-specific searches

For each relevant platform, search for the name:

• Steam: site:store.steampowered.com "Name" game
• SteamDB: site:steamdb.info "Name"
• Google Play: site:play.google.com "Name" app
• App Store: Search via web search (no direct site: query works well)
• Meta Quest / VR: Search for "Name VR" or "Name Quest"
• Itch.io / Game Jolt: General web search including the indie platforms
• BoardGameGeek: site:boardgamegeek.com "Name"

5. General web conflict assessment

Search for the name as a standalone product/entity:

- "Name" game (general existence)
- "Name" trademark (additional filings)
- "Name" trademark live active entertainment services

Also search for related name variants (one-word, two-word, hyphenated, "captain name", etc.)

6. Compile structured report

Organize findings into these sections:

Trademark Summary

Table with: Mark, Serial Number, Classes, Status (Live/Dead), Goods description, Key conflict assessment.

Add a Trademark Risk Assessment line:

• LOW — No live marks in relevant classes
• MEDIUM — Live marks in adjacent classes or similar names exist
• HIGH — Live marks in same class for the exact name

Existing Products / Conflicts

Table with: Name variant, Platform, Developer, Type, Similarity, Risk level.

Domain Availability

Table with: Domain, Available? (Yes/No), Status details, Notes.

Recommendations

• Domain priority list — order by desirability, with registration cost estimates
• Trademark recommendations — whether to file, which classes, when
• Name risk summary — assess each name variant against the main conflict

Verdict patterns

Finding	Recommended action
No trademarks, no conflicts, domains available	Go ahead, register domains + file trademark
No trademarks, but existing product with same name	Consider a distinctive variant or adjust name
No trademarks, domains taken	Try alternative TLDs (.io, .gg, .games) or modify name
Dead trademark in unrelated class	No conflict — proceed
Live trademark in same class	High risk — change name or get legal opinion

Example output structure

See references/sharkbait-domain-research-report.md for a complete worked example.

Pitfalls

• Dead trademarks still show in search results always check the Status field for "DEAD/REGISTRATION/Cancelled/Invalidated" — a dead mark poses no obstacle
• Don't mistake USPTO offline publication PDFs for current status — the PDFs listed in search results (like tmog/20030401_OG.pdf) are historical opposition publications, not current registration status. Always check TSDR directly.
• Multiple class filters matter — a trademark in Class 25 (clothing) does NOT block use in Class 9/41 (games). Filter by relevant classes.
• Domain squatters hide availability — some domains show as "taken" but are parked/squatted. Check the nameservers: PDNS*.DOMAINCONTROL.COM is typically GoDaddy parking.
• Beware "Shark Bait" as a generic phrase — many games use it as a level/achievement/item name, not a game title. Distinguish standalone game titles from in-game content.
• WHOIS rate limiting — some registrars throttle multi-domain WHOIS queries. Space out checks or run them in parallel.
• USPTO search system is JS-heavy — use the browser rather than curl/web_extract for the search interface. The TSDR status page (static content after search) can be read with browser_snapshot.

Verification

For each data point in your report, verify:

1. Trademark status is current (not historical PDF)
2. Domain WHOIS data is recent (check "Last update" timestamp)
3. Existing products are real (not placeholder/abandoned)
4. Platform listings are current (not removed/taken down)

Reference material

• references/sharkbait-domain-research-report.md — Complete worked example: researching "Shark Bait" / "Sharkbait" as a game name and domain