Glossary
French: disponibilité du signe
The availability of a sign (disponibilité du signe) is the fact, for a distinctive sign, of being free to adopt — that is, of not creating risks of infringement actions, liability, or exposure to damages claims by third parties. It is the exact counterpart of what US counsel evaluates in a clearance opinion: freedom to use and freedom to register.
Availability is evaluated through a prior-rights search (recherche d’antériorité), also called a similarity search. The study examines whether there are prior rights capable of blocking the use or the registration of the contemplated sign.
This is a preliminary step before any trademark filing — whether a French filing, an EU filing or an international filing. It matters all the more in France and the EU because the offices do not examine applications against prior marks ex officio: a French or EU application can sail through examination and register while squarely conflicting with an earlier mark, whose owner may then oppose or sue. Clearance is the applicant’s job, not the examiner’s.
Availability can be total or partial — a sign may be free for some goods and services but blocked for others.
See our trademark clearance search services, and the glossary entries prior-rights search and likelihood of confusion.