About half the names an AI hands you are already someone’s trademark.

An AI was prompted to generate brandable names for three ordinary startup categories — a productivity app, a fintech app, and an AI/developer tool — with no instruction to avoid existing marks. Each name was then cleared through Pentonym’s gating screen against the US register (14.1M live marks) and the EUIPO register, for goods matching its category. The verdict is the engine’s register-gating decision: DO_NOT_PROCEED means at least one live mark bars the name for those goods under the identification-controls rule (TMEP §1207.01(d)(v)); PROCEED means the gating registers are clear.

n = 45 · US + EU register · gating screen (register + distinctiveness), network sweep excluded · Aug 2026

What it does not claim. This is a register-gating result, not a full clearance opinion, and not legal advice. A PROCEED here is a green light to investigate further — domains, handles, common-law use and counsel review still apply — not a guarantee of registrability. The 51% is the rate for this sample of 45 AI-generated names on the date shown; it is not a claim about all AI names everywhere. We publish every underlying verdict so you can check our work.