Clear the name once — across everything that can bite you later.
Name clearance is the step between “I love this name” and “we’re building on it.” It’s broader than a trademark search: it looks at every place a name can already be taken, and tells you which of them actually matters.
Name clearance is checking a brand name across the things that decide whether you can safely use it: US trademarks, domains, social and developer handles, existing web use, and cultural flags. Only a trademark conflict can bar the name — the rest tell you what you’ll have to work around.
One name, five questions, one verdict
A trademark search answers one question. Clearance answers five, and keeps them separate so you always know what you’re looking at:
- Trademark — the only gate. A confusingly similar US mark in your class can stop you. How that’s judged →
- Domains — can you get an address worth having? Material, never a bar.
- Handles — GitHub, X, npm, PyPI, YouTube, checked at once.
- Web use — is someone already trading under the name? Common-law search →
- Cultural — does it read as an offensive term in your markets?
The point of separating them is honesty: a taken .com shouldn’t kill a name, and a real trademark conflict shouldn’t hide behind four green checks. Clearance shows you both, plainly.
Before you fall in love, not after you file
The cheapest moment to clear a name is the moment you pick it — before the domain’s bought, the logo’s drawn, or a $350 filing is spent. Clearing late means discovering the conflict after you’ve built equity in the name, which is the expensive way to learn it was never yours.
Common questions
Is name clearance the same as a trademark search?
A trademark search is one part of it. Clearance also covers domains, handles, web use and cultural flags — the practical availability of the name — while keeping the trademark check as the only one that can bar adoption.
What does Pentonym actually give me?
A three-state verdict — PROCEED, DO_NOT_PROCEED, or CANNOT_DETERMINE — with the evidence behind each axis, as an Ed25519-signed receipt you can verify yourself. Never a score.
Does it cover other countries?
It covers the US (full clearance) and the EU (a live EUIPO exact-wordmark knockout) — not other countries. So it is US & EU, not worldwide.