Search the official trademark database

Learn what different trademark symbols mean

In the US, brands can technically use a trademark without actually filing a trademark with the United States Patent and Trademark Office—which is where the ™ symbol comes from. However, brands that have officially filed trademarks can use the ® symbol in their branding.

The median trademark of public companies in the US is worth $22.5M

There are multiple approaches to evaluating the value of a trademark. Some strategies include analyzing the value of royalty payments a trademark produces and the cost of recreating the trademark or brand.

The international trademark framework is called the Madrid Protocol

Trademarks vary from country to country, but an agreement called the Madrid Protocol allows trademark protections across more than 100 participating countries. While the Madrid Protocol expands trademark access, it doesn't necessarily grant blanket protections across the participating countries, meaning each country is still in charge of its own trademark enforcement.

Listen to the pros and cons of owning a trademark as a small business owner

For many small business owners, it can be hard to decide when the time is right to file a trademark. This trademark lawyer says the decision often comes down to a product's branding, the size of the business, and how established the company is.

Breaking down the main classes of intellectual property: trademark vs. copyright vs. patent

Trademarks, copyrights, and patents are all intellectual property classifications that give exclusive ownership of ideas and concepts to individuals or businesses. Patents usually refer to innovative products or processes, copyrights are centered around the right to reproduce content, and trademarks usually involve branding elements, like names, logos, and distinct product elements.

Non-use or lapsed filings can cause a trademark to expire

Going more than three consecutive years without using a trademark can be considered abandonment—which means the trademark falls into the public domain and someone else could potentially file for the trademark. Besides non-use, not maintaining the paperwork or paying the fees can result in a terminated trademark.

Trade dress is a form of trademark that applies to the physical appearance of a product

Distinct visual characteristics of products, like the shape of a Coca-Cola bottle or the interior layout of an Apple store, can be protected. These characteristics are protected to help consumers quickly identify certain brands.

Read the Federal Trade Commission's legal definition of a monopoly

The Federal Trade Commission and the US Department of Justice (DOJ) Antitrust Division are the regulatory agencies responsible for overseeing antitrust laws. Before deeming any company a monopoly or acknowledging monopolistic power in a market, the FTC conducts thorough research into market competition, price, and even other competitors' business practices.

Food companies usually issue recalls voluntarily and you can be automatically notified about them

Protecting yourself from food poisoning means staying on top of food recall announcements. Notices about these from the US government, which you can automatically receive after signing up at this link, note what products have been recalled by food companies. Companies alert the US Food and Drug Administration or the US Department of Agriculture when they issue recalls so the public can stay informed.

A rundown of some of the wildest new tech inventions around the world

The US Patent Office approves roughly 300,000 new patents every year. Among these are some fascinating tech inventions, from high-profile robots and automated bike garages to kaleidoscopic shelves and laser-projected directions for scooters. Check...

BankFind is a tool that helps you find current and former FDIC-insured banking institutions

The tool from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (also known as the FDIC) allows users to search for these institutions by name, location, and more.

Smaller companies’ IPO information can be hard to track down

This calendar keeps you updated on the current IPO dates and pricing from different companies. You can search for upcoming and future IPO dates and see which companies withdrew from the IPO process.

Explore the biographies and official portraits of every US attorney general since 1789

The DOJ's official archive features profiles of every attorney general in American history—from Edmund Randolph, appointed by George Washington in 1789, to the present day—including their official portraits.

The US has 575 federally recognized tribal nations, each a sovereign government

Tribal governments are sovereign, with authority to pass laws, run courts, and levy taxes on their lands. Unlike cities or counties, they are not created by states. Their sovereignty predates the United States itself and is recognized in the Constitution, treaties, and federal law.

The Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention regulates toxic substances

This office evaluates and manages risks from industrial chemicals and pesticides. It reviews new chemicals before they enter the market, restricts hazardous substances, and promotes safer alternatives to protect human health and the environment.

How companies track you around the internet, explained

Being able to track how users behave on websites is a massive opportunity for companies to hone their products, target their ads, and more. Dozens of trackers are on the average website you visit, depending on how you deal with that site's cookie policy, and Google is the chief tracker of them all. Learn about these companies and what they are tracking with this informative blog visualization.

A private repository of millions of FOIA-requested documents

The Black Vault is one of the largest privately run archives of declassified documents in the world. Explore UFO sightings, doorways on Mars, and more.

Every printed bill has its own unique serial number

In the US, each bill also has its own plate number, series year, Treasury seal, and more. Each design helps track money and combat counterfeiting.

Breaking down the numbers on art theft trends

Cultural property theft has been on the rise in recent years, and the recovery rate of such artifacts is estimated to be below 10%. Explore dozens of other statistics here.

There are more than 1,400 listed clinical trials for macular degeneration

The US database of clinical trials listed more than 1,400 macular degeneration trials in early 2026. That doesn't mean every trial is recruiting, but it does indicate there is significant interest in this medical condition.

View a distribution of wind turbine locations across the US

As of May 2025, the US Wind Turbine Database maps and provides technical specifications for 76,051 onshore and offshore turbines from 1,794 projects, ranging from small installations to large-scale wind farms.

In 1924, the department store Marshall Field's invented the first modern 'wedding registry'

However, there were many traditions around wedding gifts before the wedding registry was invented, too—from dowries to marriage chests. Read about the history of the wedding registry in this article.

Learn how to read a prospectus, the juicy document that any company must file with the SEC before going public.

How the Domain Name System works and how it provides a directory for the internet

DNS translates domain names, such as join1440.com, into numerical IP addresses, such as 192.0.2.1, which computer systems use to determine what content a user is looking for across the World Wide Web, making navigation easier for the vast majority of users. Web outages can occur if the DNS servers making these translations become inaccessible.

Read the works of Mark Twain

Twain's books are in the public domain, meaning they can be freely distributed. Digital versions of his classic novels—including "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn," "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer," "A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court"—as well as many of his short stories and satirical essays can be accessed through Project Gutenberg.

Donald Trump's Truth Social social media platform is launching a prediction market

Named "Truth Predict," the cryptocurrency-based prediction market will allow users of the Truth Social social media platform to place crypto bets on the outcome of certain events (think: sports games, the economy, and political races). Truth Social is primarily owned by President Donald Trump and his family.

While the first exchange-traded fund (a 'basket' of different assets that can be bought and sold on a stock exchange) in the US only launched in 1993, the global ETF market has grown to more than $10T in the short time since.

Search a massive database of over 4 decades of clues from the TV quiz show 'Jeopardy!'

Explore fun facts from the USPS, including unique post office buildings, a stamp that traveled past Pluto, and more.

Art theft is the third-largest source of criminal revenues worldwide, thanks in part to the subjective nature of valuing a work of art.

The US Constitution is widely regarded as the longest-standing written national constitution still in force—see how it has influenced rights worldwide.

Budweiser stores yeast derived from the original 1800s strain in a secret bunker, which only the Head of Yeast Management can access—not even the CEO

The Nasdaq's 'Magnificent 7' companies are responsible for roughly 40% of the Nasdaq 100 index's gains, while the remaining 93 companies account for the other 60%.

The idea for the Federal Reserve was conceived in secret in 1910—with bankers donning duck hunt gear for disguise while traveling to a remote country club on Georgia's Jekyll Island

In 2025, four executives from large tech companies were given positions in the US Army Reserves—including Palantir Chief Technology Officer Shyam Sankar, which reinforced Palantir's ties with the US military and its role as a leading defense partner.

The 1987 Nintendo video game 'Stadium Events' isn't known for being particularly fun, but its scarcity has made it a highly sought-after item that has sold for up to $35K at auction.

The hormonal disorder PCOS was renamed PMOS in 2026, a move designed to improve care and research by shifting the focus to the hormonal causes of this condition that affects 1 in 8 women.

Objects can be 3D printed with light by projecting 2D computerized tomography (CT) scans onto rotating cylinders of resin, which solidify upon exposure.

View the ten deadliest tornadoes in US history.

Legendary architect Frank Lloyd Wright designed the SC Johnson headquarters in Wisconsin, aiming to make a cathedral-like workplace

Some Pokémon have been named after real and fictional organisms, while some real-world species have been named after Pokémon, such as Chilicola charizard and Binburrum zapdos.

Tattoos remain visible on your skin thanks to immune cells called macrophages

Power lines are dotted with large, brightly colored balls to improve the visibility of these thin wires to helicopters and small planes and help prevent potential crashes.

The first steps to rebuilding your credit score include getting to know exactly what's on your credit report and figuring out how far you are from the '700 club,' or 'good score' range.

Explore an interactive map of battles from the American Revolution, along with detailed summaries of each engagement

Take a 3D tour of the Hajj, Islam's annual pilgrimage to Mecca, undertaken by more than 1.5 million Muslims each year.

'Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone,' a work by American painter Thomas Moran, inspired Congress to establish Yellowstone National Park.

'Shogun,' a 1980s TV series, helped popularize sushi in the US by stimulating an American interest in Japanese culture.

Most of the observable universe's volume consists of voids and supervoids—enormous regions of space with little to no galaxies, stars, or light.

The first robot in literature may have been a 'mechanical man' in 1907's 'Ozma of Oz,' a book in L Frank Baum's 'Wizard of Oz' series.