Darwin GSE

Both start from the same sign, but they answer different questions. A Search, available in GSE through the Search button, is the full clearance tool. It runs every search type your input allows and gives you ranked results lists, separate for Graphical, Textual, Non Graphical, Color and Semantic results, with the most similar marks first. You can crop the image so that only part of it is compared, include inactive records such as cancelled or refused marks, filter by jurisdiction, Nice class and products or services, tick the results that matter, open AI Assisted Analysis and export a report of your selection. A Positioned Screening is a quicker availability picture. It skips cropping, the Image Information panel and inactive records, and shows a Summary view with a short text on whether oppositions are possible and a world map coloured by jurisdiction, plus Distribution Chart and Map view, where red means May be impossible, orange May have issues and green No Foreseeable problems. Use screening to test an idea quickly or across many jurisdictions, and a search when you need to see and select the actual conflicting marks. A screening can be turned into a search with View results. The two are priced differently and the cost depends on your plan and the jurisdictions chosen; Confirmation of Purchase always shows it before anything runs.

You can search with an image only, with text only, or with both together. On the start screen you place the image in the image area and type any words in the Text to search field. An image, such as a logo, label or figurative mark, gives you the visual searches: Graphical Results, which compare how the image looks; Color Results, which compare its colour palette; and, when the AI has proposed semantic concepts for it, Semantic Results, which look for marks conveying the same ideas. Text, such as a word mark, a brand name or a slogan, gives you Textual Results and Non Graphical Results, which compare the words in other ways, including how they are written and how they sound. There is no separate field for slogans: you simply type the slogan as text. When you give both, GSE runs all the applicable types in a single search, and if the AI reads words in your image it proposes them as search text, which you can keep, edit or clear. If you press a button without having chosen an image or typed any text, you see No image or text selected. Please select an image or insert a text to search. The same choice applies to a Positioned Screening, where an image gives Conceptual and Chromatic results and text gives Textual ones.

On the start screen, click the image area to choose a file from your computer, or drag the file from a folder and drop it onto the area. GSE takes one image per search; to use a different one, remove the current image with the bin button (Delete image) and add the new one. Accepted formats are PNG, BMP and JPEG, including .jpg, .jpeg, .jfif, .pjp and .pjpeg files. Once the image is in place, choose Search or Positioned Screening and GSE analyses it on the configuration screen: it reads any text in the image and proposes it as search text marked AI suggested, describes the image, proposes semantic concepts and extracts its main colours. The Search or Screening button stays disabled until that analysis has finished. For the best results, use a clear image of the sign itself, with good resolution, on a plain background and without photographs of products or surrounding text that are not part of the mark. If your logo sits inside a label, a packaging design or a larger artwork, you do not need to edit it beforehand: in a Search you can use Crop Image on the configuration screen to draw boxes around the parts to compare, so that only the cropped areas are searched graphically. Cropping is not offered in Positioned Screening.

GSE accepts images in PNG, BMP and the JPEG family, which covers files ending in .jpg, .jpeg, .jfif, .pjp and .pjpeg. These cover nearly every logo or figurative mark you are likely to have, whether exported from a design tool, saved from an office's register or scanned from paper. If you choose a file in any other format, such as a PDF, a vector file, a TIFF, a GIF or a WebP image, GSE shows Invalid Image and does not load it. In that case open the file in any image editor or design application and export or save it as PNG or JPEG, then upload the converted file. PNG is a good choice for logos with flat colours and sharp edges; JPEG suits photographs and scanned material. Whatever the format, quality matters more than size: a clear, well-lit image of the sign, without heavy compression artefacts, borders or unrelated elements around it, helps the AI read its text, describe it, propose concepts and extract the palette more accurately, and helps the graphical comparison find the closest marks. You can upload only one image per search or screening; if the mark appears inside a larger design, use Crop Image on the search configuration screen to compare only the relevant part.

Leave the image area empty, type the word mark, brand name or slogan in the Text to search field on the start screen and choose Search. The configuration screen opens without the image panels: you give the search a Reference, check the Jurisdictions and, under Toggle More Options, choose Nice classes or type products and services, and decide whether to Include inactive records. When you start the search, GSE runs the two text search types and shows them as separate buttons on the results: Textual Results and Non Graphical Results, the latter comparing the text in other ways, including how it sounds and how it is written, so you also find marks that look different on paper but sound alike. Slogans are handled the same way, as text; there is no separate slogan field. You can also screen a text with Positioned Screening, which gives Textual results in the charts and maps. Text searches are priced separately from graphical searches, and Confirmation of Purchase shows the cost before anything runs. On some plans text searching is particularly economical: the Free plan lists 25 Silver credits for a text search in the European Union, international registrations, Portugal or Spain, and Core includes All-You-Can-Search for text in those same jurisdictions. Subscriptions shows the current figures for your account.

When you add an image and also type text in Text to search, GSE treats them as one search and runs every search type that applies to each. From the image it runs the graphical comparison, the colour comparison and, if semantic concepts are present, the semantic search; from the text it runs the textual comparison and the non-graphical comparison, which also considers how the words sound and are written. You confirm and pay once, with Confirmation of Purchase showing the cost of the combination before anything runs. On the results, each type has its own button, Graphical Results, Color Results, Semantic Results, Textual Results and Non Graphical Results, and only those the search produced appear, so you review them one at a time with the same filters and views. On the configuration screen, GSE reads any words it finds in the image and fills them in as search text marked AI suggested. Check that suggestion carefully: keep it if the words are part of your mark, correct it if the AI misread them, or press Clear if you want the image searched on its own. If you change the text after a search has run, GSE creates a new configuration and asks you to run the search again, which is priced again. Combining image and text is the usual choice for mixed marks.

Reference is your own name for a search or screening, typed in the Search Configuration panel on the configuration screen, for example My first graphical search. It does not affect the results in any way; it exists so that you and your colleagues can recognise the search later. You see it when you hover over the search's card in the strip at the top of the search page, together with the type, text, jurisdictions, classes and concepts, which is especially useful once you have several searches open in one session. It also identifies the search when you pay for it and on the reports you export, so a client or colleague reading the PDF knows at once what it refers to. If something goes wrong with a search or a screening, quote its Reference when you contact support, so the team can find it quickly. A consistent naming convention pays off, particularly in a team: for instance the client's name, the mark, the type of check and the date, such as ACME logo clearance EU 2026-10-05. Because GSE does not keep a separate history page, a clear Reference together with the exported report is the best way to file your work. The tour of the configuration screen also points out the Reference field and explains its purpose.

The strip at the top of the search page shows your session searches: one card for every search or screening you have made since you signed in, with an icon for its type, and a + button, Search another, to start a new one. Hover over a card to see its details: the Reference you gave it, the Search type (Screening, Complete search, Graphical or Textual), the Search Text, the Jurisdictions, the Nice classes, shown as All when all 45 were included, and the Semantic concepts. Click a card to go back to that search or screening and its results. A search you have already paid for can be reopened from its card without paying again, so you can move freely between, say, the results for a logo and those for its word element. The strip belongs to the current session only: when you sign out it is cleared, and GSE has no separate search history page to bring old searches back. Before you finish, therefore, export to PDF or Excel the reports you want to keep, and give each search a clear Reference so the files are easy to find later. If your session expires, you are asked to sign in again, so export important results promptly rather than leaving them open for a long time.

Screening List, on the start screen, is meant for checking several concepts in one go. It opens a form with up to 10 rows, each with room for an image and a text, a counter showing how many rows you have used (n / 10), and + and - buttons to add or remove rows, so that you could, for instance, compare a shortlist of candidate names or logo variants. This feature is not yet available, so you cannot run a Screening List at the moment, even though the button and the form are already visible. In the meantime, use Positioned Screening, which screens one concept at a time: put the first image or text on the start screen, run the screening, and then use Search another on the strip at the top of the page to screen the next one. Each screening you make stays as a card in the strip for the rest of your session, so you can move between them to compare their summaries, charts and maps, and you can export each one to PDF or Excel to keep the results together. Give each screening a clear Reference, such as the client and candidate name, so they are easy to tell apart. If you need a larger batch of concepts checked, contact support or the sales team to discuss your needs.

Use the + button, Search another, in the strip at the top of the search page. It takes you back to an empty start screen, where you add a new image or text and choose Search or Positioned Screening as usual. The search you have just made is not lost: it stays as a card in the strip for the rest of your session, and clicking the card brings you back to it and its results. A search you have already paid for can be reopened this way without paying again, so you can switch between several searches freely. From a results list there is also a quicker route when one of the marks found deserves its own search: choose Search this Image on that result and, after you confirm Do you want to search this image?, GSE starts a new search using that mark's image, while your original search remains in the strip. Remember that changing the parameters of an existing search, such as its text, jurisdictions, classes or concepts, creates a new configuration that must be run and paid again, so if you want to keep both versions side by side, start the new one with Search another. The strip is cleared when you sign out, so export the reports you need before leaving.

Cropping lets you tell Darwin GSE which part of an image matters, so the graphical comparison concentrates on that part and ignores the rest. After you upload an image and open the configuration screen, choose Crop Image beside the picture in Search Data. Then click and drag over the image to draw a box around the area you want compared. You can draw one box or several, for example one around a symbol and another around a stylised word; drag a corner square to resize a box, click inside it to move it, and press the Delete key to remove the box that is selected. When you are happy, choose Save Crops; Delete All Crops clears every box, and Cancel leaves cropping mode without changes. Once crops are saved, only the cropped areas are compared graphically with the images of existing trade marks. This is especially useful when your logo sits inside a label, on packaging, on a photograph of a product or next to other elements that are not part of the mark, because those surroundings would otherwise influence which marks look similar. Cropping is available for image searches in GSE only; it is not part of Positioned Screening. Bear in mind that crops are search parameters: if you add, change or remove crops after a search has run, GSE tells you that a new configuration was created, and the new search has to be run, and is priced, again.

When you upload an image, Darwin GSE uses AI to read any words or letters that appear in it, such as the brand name in a logo or the wording on a label. If it finds text, it places it in the Search Text field on the configuration screen and marks it AI suggested, so you can see at a glance that you did not type it yourself. The suggestion is a starting point, not a decision. You can keep it, correct it if the AI has misread a stylised letter, shorten it to the distinctive word, or remove it altogether with Clear if you only want to compare the image. It matters because whatever is in Search Text is searched as text: it produces the Textual Results and Non Graphical Results alongside the image-based ones, and text searches are priced separately from graphical searches, so keeping or clearing the suggestion changes what the search covers and what it costs. Before you pay, the Confirmation of Purchase window shows the cost for exactly what you have configured. If the image contains no readable text, the field simply stays as you left it, and you can always type your own word, name or slogan there. As with every AI proposal in GSE, the AI suggests and you decide.

The Generated Description is a written description of your image produced by AI. You find it in the Image Information panel on the configuration screen, which you open with Toggle Image Information after uploading an image for a search. It describes the essential visual elements and distinctive features of the mark, such as shapes, symbols, colours and the impression they are meant to give, which can help you put into words what your logo shows, for instance when you discuss it with a client or a colleague. It is purely informative: it does not change which marks are found, how they are ranked or what the search costs, so you never need to edit it. As the panel itself warns, AI can make mistakes, so treat it as a helpful reading of the image rather than an authoritative one. Occasionally the description cannot be produced straight away; in that case the panel shows The image description isn't available at this moment. Please try again later. and offers Retry loading image description, which you can use after a short wait. A missing description never stops you from running the search, because the rest of the configuration does not depend on it. The description is created by Darwin's own AI services, not by any AI keys your account may use elsewhere in Darwin Suite.

Semantic Concepts are short labels describing what your image represents, such as an animal, an object or an idea. When you upload an image for a search, Darwin GSE's AI proposes a set of concepts and shows them as chips in the Image Information panel, which you open with Toggle Image Information. You are free to adjust them: remove a concept you consider irrelevant with the x on its chip, or type a new one and press + to add it. A search can hold at most 12 concepts; when you reach the limit GSE tells you that you have reached the maximum number of concepts for this search, and you need to remove one before adding another. For a more guided choice, the Concept Tree button opens a graph of related broader and narrower concepts. The concepts matter in two places. They drive the Semantic Results, which find marks that share the meaning of yours even when they look different, and they feed AI Assisted Analysis, which shows how those concepts have been used in trade mark registrations over time; without concepts, neither is available. Because concepts are search parameters, changing them after a search has run creates a new configuration that has to be searched, and priced, again. The AI proposes the concepts; you decide which ones describe your mark.

The Concept Tree helps you choose the Semantic Concepts of a search by exploring related ideas rather than typing them from memory. Open it with the Concept Tree button in the Semantic Concepts area of the configuration screen; a window called Semantic concepts appears with an interactive graph that starts from the concepts of your search and links each one to broader and narrower related concepts. Click a concept to expand it and reveal its neighbours, and Shift+Click a concept to select it. You can select up to 12 concepts in total, the same limit that applies to the search itself. A side list, which you show with Open filters, gives you the concepts as checkboxes, a convenient way to review and adjust your selection without hunting for them in the graph. When the selection is right, choose Confirm: the concepts you selected replace the search's current concepts. Choose Cancel to close the window and leave the concepts as they were. A typical use is to move from a very specific concept to a broader one, or the other way round, depending on how widely you want Semantic Results to look. Remember that changing concepts after a search has run creates a new configuration, which has to be searched and paid for again.

The Palette shows the main colours of your image. It is in the Image Information panel of the configuration screen, opened with Toggle Image Information, and lists up to six of the most relevant colours, each with its common name and the share of the image it covers, so you can see at a glance which colours dominate your mark and which are only accents; hovering over a colour also shows its RGB values. You do not need to set anything here: the palette is worked out from the image you uploaded. It is, however, the basis of the Color Results, which bring up existing trade marks whose colour palette is closest to yours, closest colours first. That is useful when the colour combination itself is distinctive, for example in packaging, trade dress or a logo whose identity relies heavily on a particular pair of colours. Colour information about registrations also appears in the Colors chart of AI Assisted Analysis. If the palette does not reflect the part of the image you care about, for example because a large background colour dominates, consider cropping the image so that the comparison focuses on the mark itself. Like other image information, the palette is produced automatically and supports your judgement rather than replacing it.

The Vienna Classification is the international system that trade mark offices use to classify the figurative elements of marks, such as stars, animals, human figures or geometric shapes, into categories, divisions and sections. In Darwin GSE, once you upload an image for a search, the AI proposes a Vienna classification for it based on the semantic concepts of the image, including any you added yourself. You open it with Toggle Vienna Categories in the Image Information panel; it appears as a hierarchical list and may take a few seconds to load. The feature is marked BETA because the classification is still being fine-tuned, so the proposal may not always be completely accurate. By default the bottom levels are ticked; you can tick or untick the last-level categories to keep only those you agree with. The proposal is for information only: it does not change which marks are found or how they are ranked. Its practical value is in your report, because the selected Vienna categories appear among the search parameters in the exported PDF or Excel, which can help when you later prepare an application or discuss the mark with a client. Always review it with your own knowledge of the classification, as the AI proposes and you decide.

The Search button on the configuration screen, or the Screening button in Positioned Screening, stays greyed out while Darwin GSE is still analysing the image you uploaded. During those few seconds GSE reads any text in the image, proposes semantic concepts and works out the colour palette, and the search needs that analysis before it can run. In most cases you only need to wait a moment and the button becomes available. If it remains disabled, check that there is actually something to search: you need an image, some text in Search Text, or both. On the start screen, trying to continue with neither gives the message No image or text selected. Please select an image or insert a text to search. If you chose a file that is not a PNG, BMP or JPEG image, GSE shows Invalid Image and you should upload a supported file instead. Note that the Generated Description is not required: if it is unavailable and the panel offers Retry loading image description, you can still run the search, because the description is informative only. If the button stays disabled for a long time, refresh the page and try again; if the problem continues, contact support from the Help Centre, describing the image and what you were trying to do.

Jurisdictions are chosen on the configuration screen, in the Search Configuration panel, under Jurisdictions. Each jurisdiction on offer appears with its code and name and a checkbox: tick the ones where you want Darwin GSE to look for earlier trade marks and untick those you do not need. Some jurisdictions are organisations rather than single countries, for example the European Union or international registrations, and on the result maps they are spread over their member countries. The list shown on the screen is the current list of jurisdictions available, and it can change over time. A few jurisdictions are already ticked when you arrive, based on your account's country; you can change that selection freely. If you untick everything, GSE searches all the jurisdictions offered, which is the widest possible search. Think about where you intend to file or use the mark, and where an opponent might hold earlier rights. Your choice affects the price: the cost of a search or screening is calculated for the service, your account's country and the jurisdictions chosen, so adding or removing jurisdictions changes it. You see the exact cost, and the jurisdictions included, in the Confirmation of Purchase window before you pay, and you can still go back and adjust the selection at that point.

Darwin GSE pre-selects jurisdictions to save you time, based on the country recorded for your account. By default it ticks the jurisdiction of that country together with the organisations the country belongs to, for example the European Union for a member state, where those organisations are offered. If your account's country is not among the jurisdictions covered, GSE ticks the regional or international ones instead, so that a meaningful search is still proposed. The pre-selection is only a suggestion. You can tick or untick any jurisdiction before running the search, and it is worth doing so whenever your plans go beyond your home market, for example when you intend to export or license the brand. Remember that the jurisdictions chosen affect the cost, which you see in the Confirmation of Purchase window before paying. If the jurisdictions proposed do not match your situation because the account's country is wrong, an Admin of your account can correct it in Profile > Company Account; as the account is shared across Darwin Suite, that change applies to every system the account uses. If you are not an Admin, ask one of your account's administrators to make the change.

Darwin GSE searches registered trade mark records in the jurisdictions offered on the configuration screen. That includes word marks, figurative marks and mixed marks combining words and images, so you can compare both what your mark says and how it looks. By default the search covers active records; if you also want cancelled, refused, abandoned and other obsolete records, tick Include inactive records under Other options when you configure a search. The jurisdictions available are listed on the configuration screen itself, which is the place to check, because the list can change over time. Some of them are organisations, such as the European Union or international registrations, rather than single countries. GSE is a trade mark tool. It does not search patents, designs, domain names or company names, so if your clearance work needs those, you will have to check them separately. Its results are a basis for your own assessment of viability, prior art or opposition risk, not a legal opinion, and they do not guarantee that a mark can be registered or will not be opposed. Where a link exists, the globe button on a result takes you to the office's register page, where you can confirm the current details of the record.

The Nice Classification is the international system that groups goods and services into 45 classes for trade mark registration: classes 1 to 34 cover goods and classes 35 to 45 cover services. A trade mark is registered for particular classes, and conflicts usually matter most between marks used for the same or related goods and services. In Darwin GSE you choose classes on the configuration screen: choose Toggle More Options in Search Configuration and the Nice section appears, with a checkbox for each class from 1 to 45 and select all to tick them all at once. Tick only the classes relevant to your products or services, for instance class 25 for clothing or class 43 for restaurant services. If you leave every class unticked, the search covers all classes. Limiting the classes makes the results more focused, because marks registered for unrelated goods and services stop crowding the list, while searching all classes gives a broader view that can reveal marks in other fields. The info button next to Nice explains that changing the classes can also affect the cost, and the Confirmation of Purchase window always shows the classes included and the exact cost before you pay. If you are unsure of the right class, use the Products/Services box to find it.

You do not need to know the Nice classes by heart. On the configuration screen, choose Toggle More Options and find the Products/Services box below the Nice classes. Type a product or service in plain words, such as running shoes, coffee shop or mobile app, and press +. Darwin GSE works out which Nice classes that product or service belongs to and ticks them for you in the Nice list, and the term you typed is kept as a chip so you can see what you have entered. You can add several products and services, one after the other, to build up the classes of your intended application. Once the classes are ticked, look at them before you search: the automatic match is a helpful suggestion, but a description can fit more than one class, or a broad word may tick a class you do not need, so untick anything that does not apply and add any class you know is missing. Bear in mind that the classes you end up with shape the search, and leaving every class unticked searches all of them. The same Products/Services field appears among the filters on the results, where you can use it to narrow the marks shown to those relevant to a particular product or service without running a new search.

By default Darwin GSE compares your mark with active trade mark records. Include inactive records widens the search to records that are no longer in force, such as cancelled, refused, abandoned and other obsolete records. You find it on the configuration screen: choose Toggle More Options and look under Other options, where the box is unticked unless you tick it. Inactive records can be useful in several situations. For prior-art and research work, they show how similar marks have fared in the past, for instance that an earlier application for a similar sign was refused. They help you understand the history of a name in your sector and the activity of competitors. They can also point to a risk of revival, for example when a former owner may still use the sign or file it again. For a straightforward check of current obstacles to a new filing, leaving the option off keeps the results focused on rights that are in force. The option is available for searches in GSE but not in Positioned Screening, which does not offer it. Like other parameters, ticking or unticking it after a search has run creates a new configuration that has to be searched, and priced, again.

Yes, the configuration you choose affects the cost. The cost of a search or screening is calculated for the service you use, your account's country and the jurisdictions you choose, so adding or removing jurisdictions changes it, and the info button next to Jurisdictions reminds you of that. The info button next to Nice notes that adding or removing classes can also affect the cost. What you search matters too: text searches are priced separately from graphical searches, so a search with both an image and text in Search Text covers both kinds. Your plan also plays a part. For example, the Free plan lists 25 Silver credits per text search in EU, WO, PT and ES, while Core includes All-You-Can-Search for text in those jurisdictions and Prime includes All-You-Can-Search for both text and images there; Subscriptions shows the current figures for your account. You never have to guess the final amount. Before anything runs, the Confirmation of Purchase window shows the type of search, the jurisdictions, the Nice classes, the cost under This search will cost, and your balance before and after. If the figure is not what you expected, go back, adjust the configuration and check the new cost. Silver credits from your plan are used first, then Gold credits.

Once a search has run, its parameters are fixed. If you then change any of them, such as the search text, the jurisdictions, the Nice classes, Include inactive records, the semantic concepts or the crops, Darwin GSE shows a Reminder: The search parameters have changed. A new configuration was created. You must redo the search with the new parameters. The original search and its results are kept as they were, and your changes become a new configuration. When you run it, it is a new search in its own right, with its own card in the session strip at the top of the page, and it is priced again according to the new parameters, so you see a fresh Confirmation of Purchase before it runs. This protects you from accidentally losing results you have already paid for, and it means each card corresponds to exactly one set of parameters. If you run a search again without changing anything, GSE neither re-runs nor charges it; it simply shows the results you already have, and you can also reopen a paid search from its card without paying again. Remember that the session strip belongs to your current session and is cleared when you sign out, so export the report of any search you want to keep before signing out.

A full search in Darwin GSE can produce up to five kinds of results, each with its own button above the results list. Graphical Results are existing marks whose images look similar to yours. Textual Results are marks matched on the text you searched. Non Graphical Results compare that text in other ways, including how it sounds and how it is written, so they can find marks that look or sound alike even when the spelling differs. Color Results are marks with the closest colour palette, closest colours first. Semantic Results, marked BETA, are marks that share the meaning or concepts of yours. Only the buttons for the types your search actually produced are shown, because each type depends on what you searched: an image gives Graphical and Color Results, and Semantic Results when it has semantic concepts, while text in Search Text gives Textual and Non Graphical Results. A search with both image and text can therefore show all five. Click a button to switch the list to that type. Each type is ranked on its own, most similar first, and has its own selection of results for the report, so it is worth looking through each one: a mark that does not appear among the closest images may appear because of its sound or its meaning.

Graphical Results come from comparing your image with the images of existing trade marks. Darwin GSE's AI looks at the visual features of the picture you uploaded, such as its shapes, outlines and overall composition, and finds registered marks whose images are visually similar. If you saved crops, only the cropped areas are compared, which is the way to keep surrounding elements like packaging or a background from influencing the result. The comparison is visual: it is about how the mark looks, not about the words it contains or what it means. Text that appears in your logo is covered by the Textual and Non Graphical Results, based on Search Text, and meaning is covered by the Semantic Results. Colours are dealt with separately in the Color Results, so two marks with similar shapes can appear close here even if they use different colours. The results are ranked with the most similar first and, as for every type, no similarity percentage is shown, so look at each mark yourself and decide whether the resemblance matters for your case. Graphical Results are available only when you search with an image. From any result you can use Search this Image to run a new search starting from that mark's image.

Both types come from the text in Search Text, but they compare it differently. Textual Results are trade marks matched on the text itself: the marks whose wording corresponds to the word, name or slogan you searched. They are the most direct answer to the question of whether someone has already registered this wording. Non Graphical Results go further and compare your text in other ways, including how it sounds and how it is written. That is how they find marks that look or sound alike even when they are not spelt the same, such as a name with a letter swapped, an extra letter, or a different spelling that is pronounced in a similar way. Those are exactly the kinds of resemblance that can lead to confusion and to oppositions, so the two lists complement each other and both deserve a look. Each list is ranked on its own, most similar first, without a similarity percentage, and each has its own selection of results for the report. Neither type compares images: a logo's appearance is handled by the Graphical Results. If you search with an image only and leave Search Text empty, these two types do not appear; if the AI read text in your image, check the suggestion before searching.

Color Results are existing trade marks whose colour palette is closest to the palette of your image. When you search with an image, Darwin GSE works out its main colours, which you can see in the Palette section of Image Information, up to six colours with their share of the image. It then finds registered marks with similar colour distributions and orders them with the closest colours first. This view is useful when colour is part of what makes a sign recognisable: a particular combination of colours on packaging, the trade dress of a product, or a logo whose identity depends on a distinctive pair of colours. It can also show how crowded a colour scheme already is in the classes you are interested in. Keep in mind that Color Results compare colour only. Two marks can be close here even if their shapes and words are completely different, so look at each result and judge whether the colour similarity matters in context; the Graphical Results deal with shapes and composition. If a large background colour dominates your image, consider cropping it so that the palette reflects the mark itself. As with all result types, results are ranked without a similarity percentage, and Color Results appear only for searches with an image.

Semantic Results are trade marks that share the meaning of yours, even when they look and sound different. They are based on the Semantic Concepts of your search, the AI-proposed labels describing what your image represents, which you can adjust before searching. A mark showing a different drawing of the same animal, or the same idea expressed in another way, can appear here although it would not be close in the Graphical or Textual Results. This matters because conceptual similarity can also lead to confusion and oppositions. The type is marked BETA, and GSE explains what that means: the results you see are CORRECT, but may not be COMPLETE, so please take this into account when deciding whether your trade mark is viable. In other words, you can rely on what is shown, but you should not conclude from an empty or short list that no conceptually similar marks exist; combine this view with the other result types and your own research. Semantic Results only appear when the search has an image with semantic concepts. Changing the concepts after the search has run creates a new configuration that has to be searched again. The concepts also feed AI Assisted Analysis, opened from the sparkles button on the results list.

Within each result type, Darwin GSE lists the marks it found with the most similar first, so the marks at the top of Graphical, Textual, Non Graphical, Color or Semantic Results deserve your closest attention. No similarity percentage is shown, and that is deliberate. The ranking compares results within one type, and a figure taken out of that context could easily be read as a measure of legal risk, which it is not: whether a resemblance matters depends on the goods and services, the jurisdictions, the distinctiveness of the marks and other factors that only a person can weigh. GSE therefore puts the closest candidates in front of you and leaves the judgement to you, one result at a time. To help with that judgement, open each mark's details, compare its classes and status, and, where a link exists, use the globe button to check the record in the office's register. When you reach the last page of a list, Expand results may be offered to bring in Results with less confidence, which are further from your mark but can still be worth a glance. If you need an expert opinion, your plan may include expert human analysis, which support or sales can arrange for you.

The results list offers three views, with buttons above the results to switch between them. Cards is the default view: each mark appears as a card with its image, and hovering over a card shows its File Information, Owner Information and Representative Information. It is the quickest way to scan a lot of logos visually. List shows one result per row with the columns Image, File Nr, Modality, Filing Date, Registration Date, Nice Class, Owner and Status; you can sort by any column by clicking its header, for example to bring the oldest filings or a particular owner together. The result's tick box and buttons are at the left of each row. Details works like List but shows all the information that appears when you hover over a card, which is handy when you want to read through results without hovering. Whichever view you use, the results and your selection stay the same; only the presentation changes. You can also choose how many results appear on each page, 40, 80, 120 or 160, and move between pages with the paginator. To look at another kind of result, use the buttons for Graphical, Textual, Non Graphical, Color and Semantic Results, which the search shows only for the types it produced.

For every trade mark found, Darwin GSE shows its image, where there is one, and three groups of information. File Information gives the Name of the mark, its File Number, the Modality (for example word, figurative or mixed), the Filing Date, the Registration Date, its Nice Classification and its File Status. Owner Information identifies who holds the mark, and Representative Information shows the representative recorded for it, where there is one. In the Cards view you see these details by hovering over a card; the Details view shows them all directly, and the List view shows the main fields as sortable columns: Image, File Nr, Modality, Filing Date, Registration Date, Nice Class, Owner and Status. For Semantic Results, the semantic concepts behind the match are also shown, which helps you understand why a mark that looks different was considered close in meaning. Each result also carries its tick box for the report and, where available, Search this Image and a globe button that opens the office's register page. The information comes from the trade mark records, so for a decision that depends on a mark's current status, such as an opposition or a renewal, confirm it on the office's register.

To narrow down a long list, choose Open filters on the results screen. Three filters are available. Jurisdictions lists the jurisdictions you searched, so you can concentrate on one country or organisation at a time, for example to review the European Union results separately from the national ones. Nice lets you keep only marks registered in particular classes, which is useful when you searched all classes and now want to focus on the goods and services closest to yours. Products/Services works as on the configuration screen: type a product or service, press +, and the matching Nice classes are used to filter the results, so you do not need to know the class numbers. Filters change what you see, not what was searched, so narrowing the results does not run a new search and does not cost anything; clear the filters to see the full list again, and use Close filters to hide the panel. This is different from changing the search parameters on the configuration screen, which creates a new configuration and a new search that is priced again. Note that filters can only work with what the search found: to cover jurisdictions or classes that were not part of the original search, you need to configure and run a new one.

Darwin GSE first shows you the results it is most confident about for each result type. When you reach the last page of a list and there are more marks available, an Expand results button appears, described as Results with less confidence. Choosing it adds those further results to the end of the list. They are marks that were found but are less similar to yours than the ones already shown, so they appear after them in the ranking. Most of the time the main list is enough, but expanding is worth doing when the stakes are high or the list was short: a mark that is only loosely similar in appearance may still matter if it is registered for identical goods in the same jurisdiction. As for every result, look at each one and decide for yourself whether the resemblance is relevant. Expand results is offered only when the list is not filtered, so if you do not see it, clear the filters under Open filters and go to the last page. If there are no further results, the button does not appear, which simply means that the search had nothing more to show for that type. Expanding the results does not change your search parameters and does not create a new search.

Each result has a tick box, and Darwin GSE pre-selects the most relevant results of each type for you, so that you start with a sensible shortlist rather than an empty one. The selection is what goes into your report: when you choose Export to PDF or Export to Excel, the search report lists the selected results with their details, together with the parameters of the search. You are free to change the selection. Tick any further marks you want to include, untick those you consider irrelevant, and use Unselect all to clear every tick for the result type you are viewing and build your own selection from scratch. Each result type has its own selection, so look at Graphical, Textual, Non Graphical, Color and Semantic Results in turn before exporting. Your selection is saved with the search, so you can come back to the same search from its card in the session strip and continue where you left off. A good habit is to review the pre-selection critically: the AI ranks marks by similarity, but whether a mark matters for your client depends on its goods and services, status and jurisdiction, so the final shortlist should reflect your own judgement. A clear selection makes the report more useful to the person who reads it.

Search this Image starts a new search using the image of one of the marks you found. It is one of the buttons on a result, available where the mark has an image. When you choose it, Darwin GSE asks Do you want to search this image? and, if you confirm, takes that mark's image to the configuration screen as the image of a new search, where it is analysed in the usual way and you can review the text, concepts, jurisdictions and classes before running it. This is useful for following a trail: for instance, when an earlier mark looks close to yours, searching its image shows you which other marks resemble it, which helps you understand how crowded that visual space is. The new search is a search in its own right, with its own card in the session strip at the top of the page and its own results, so it is priced as a new search, and the Confirmation of Purchase window shows its cost before you pay. Your original search is not affected; you can return to it at any time during the session from its card without paying again. Remember that the session strip is cleared when you sign out, so export the reports of the searches you want to keep.

Where a link to the office's register exists, a result in Darwin GSE has a globe button. Choose it and the record's page on the trade mark office's register opens in a new browser tab, so you can keep your results open while you look. The register is the authoritative place to check a mark's current situation: its status, owner, representative, goods and services, and any recent events such as an opposition, a renewal or a cancellation. That matters because a mark's situation can change, so before acting on a result, for example deciding to file, to oppose or to approach an owner, it is good practice to confirm the facts on the register. Not every result has a globe button, because a page that can be linked does not exist for every record; for those marks, search the office's own register using the File Number shown in the result's File Information. The buttons on a result, the globe and Search this Image, appear on the card in the Cards view and at the left of each row in the List and Details views. Opening the register page does not affect your search, your selection or your credit balance, and you can return to the results tab whenever you are ready.

No. An empty list is encouraging, but it is not a guarantee. No results matching that search means that, with the parameters you chose, Darwin GSE found no similar marks to show; it does not mean the mark is free to register or safe from opposition. Before drawing conclusions, check your configuration. Were the right jurisdictions ticked, and were your Nice classes too narrow? Did saved crops leave out part of the mark? Were inactive records excluded when earlier refusals or abandoned marks would be relevant? Did you search only the image, or only the text, when the mark has both? A search with both the image and the text in Search Text covers appearance, wording, sound, colour and meaning, and looking at every result type gives a fuller picture; remember that Semantic Results are BETA and may not be complete. Also bear in mind that GSE searches registered trade marks only, not company names or domain names. Searches support your decision, but they are not legal advice and do not guarantee registration or the absence of oppositions. For an important filing, consider professional advice: depending on your plan, expert human analysis of a search or screening is available for Gold credits per jurisdiction, and support or sales can arrange it.

A Positioned Screening gives you a quick picture of how crowded the ground is around your trade mark idea, jurisdiction by jurisdiction, before you commit to a full search. You prepare it from the start screen with an image, a text or both, choose Positioned Screening, set the Reference, Jurisdictions and, under Toggle More Options, the Nice classes or Products/Services, and press Screening. Darwin GSE then compares your concept with existing registered trade marks along up to four dimensions: Graphical, Conceptual and Chromatic when you have given an image, and Textual when you have given text. The answer comes back as an indication of the possibility of an opposition, coloured red (May be impossible), orange (May have issues) or green (No Foreseeable problems), and you can look at it in three ways: the Summary view, with a short text and a world map; the Distribution Chart, with one scatter chart per dimension; and the Map view, with one world map per dimension. A screening is the right tool when you want to compare several candidate names or logos quickly, or to decide in which countries a fuller study is worth doing; when you need the ranked list of the marks behind the picture, View results turns it into a full search. Screenings support your decision; they are not legal advice and do not guarantee registration or the absence of oppositions.

As soon as you confirm a Positioned Screening, Darwin GSE starts comparing your concept with existing marks and shows a small table so that you can follow its progress. Each row is one type of result, under the headings Results type and Status. If you screened an image you will see Conceptual and Chromatic rows, and if you screened a text you will see a Textual row; with both an image and a text you get all of them. Each row shows Loading... while it is being worked out and changes to Ready when that part is complete, so you can watch the table fill in rather than waiting in front of a blank page. How long it takes depends on how much you asked for: more jurisdictions and broader classes mean more marks to compare. While it runs, keep the page open and do not navigate away, because the results are delivered to the page you are on; you can close confirmation messages without harm. When every row is Ready, the results screen opens on the Summary view, and the screening also appears as a card in the session searches strip at the top of the page, from which you can come back to it later in the same session. If a screening stops with an error or never finishes, note its Reference and contact support through the Help Centre so that the team can look into it.

The Summary view is the screen a Positioned Screening opens on, and it is designed to be read in a few seconds. At the top you find a short text that tells you, in plain words and in the language of your interface, whether oppositions to your concept look possible across the jurisdictions you chose. Below it is a world map in which each jurisdiction is coloured according to the overall result there: red for May be impossible, orange for May have issues and green for No Foreseeable problems. Where a jurisdiction is an organisation rather than a single country, for example the European Union or international registrations, the map spreads its colour over the member countries, so a whole region may light up from a single choice. Countries left grey were not part of the result. Use the Summary view to see at a glance where your idea looks clear and where it meets earlier marks, and then switch to the Distribution Chart or the Map view when you want to know which dimension, graphical, conceptual, chromatic or textual, is behind a colour. Remember that the summary is an indication drawn from the marks found, meant to help you decide where to look more closely; it is not a legal opinion, and a green country does not guarantee that your mark will be registered or go unopposed.

Darwin GSE uses three colours throughout a screening, on the Summary view, the Distribution Chart and the Map view, to show the possibility of an opposition from existing trade marks. Red means May be impossible: the screening found earlier marks close enough to your concept that registering it there could be very difficult. Orange means May have issues: there are similar marks that deserve a careful look before you go ahead. Green means No Foreseeable problems: nothing found in that dimension or jurisdiction points to a likely conflict. On the charts, each dot is an existing mark and its colour expresses the possibility of an opposition from that particular mark; on the maps, the colour summarises the result for each country or jurisdiction. The colours are indications produced by comparing your concept with registered marks, not decisions or legal advice. They do not take into account everything an examiner or an opponent might consider, so an orange or red result is a reason to study the marks involved, ideally with a full search or an expert, and a green result is encouraging but not a guarantee. The Details filter on the results screen lets you show or hide each colour; by default red and orange are shown and green is hidden, and whether you can change that setting depends on your plan.

The Distribution Chart shows the results of a Positioned Screening as four scatter charts, each placed around your searched image in the centre: Graphical, for visual similarity; Conceptual, marked BETA, for similarity of the ideas the mark conveys; Chromatic, for similarity of colours; and Textual, for similarity of the words. Every dot is an existing registered trade mark found by the screening, and its colour tells you the possibility of an opposition from that mark: red for May be impossible, orange for May have issues and green for No Foreseeable problems. A useful way to read each chart is that marks nearer the searched image in the centre are more similar to it in that dimension, while those further out are less alike; a cluster of red or orange dots close to the centre is the clearest sign that the ground is occupied. Comparing the four charts helps you understand where a risk comes from: a logo may be visually original yet conceptually close to many marks, or a name may be safe textually while its colours are commonplace. Depending on your plan, hovering a dot shows the name and image of the mark behind it. The Details filter and the Jurisdictions, Nice and Products/Services filters change which dots appear, and View results turns the screening into a full search with the ranked list of marks.

The Map view presents a Positioned Screening as four world maps, one for each dimension of the comparison: Graphical, Conceptual, Chromatic and Textual. On each map the countries covered by your screening are coloured according to the result in that dimension, using the same scale as the rest of the screen: red for May be impossible, orange for May have issues and green for No Foreseeable problems. Countries shown in grey were not part of the result. When you choose an organisation such as the European Union or international registrations, its result is spread over its member countries, so you see the whole area coloured. You can zoom into a map to look at smaller countries more comfortably, and hovering a country shows its name. The Map view is particularly helpful when you are deciding where to file: it shows, for example, that a logo looks clear graphically everywhere but meets conceptual conflicts in a few markets, or that a word is crowded only in certain regions. For the overall picture in one map, go back to the Summary view, and for the individual marks behind the colours use the Distribution Chart or View results. The maps are indications to guide your decision, not a legal opinion on registrability.

On the results screen of a Positioned Screening you can narrow what you see without running the screening again. The Details filter has one checkbox for each colour, so you can show or hide red (May be impossible), orange (May have issues) and green (No Foreseeable problems) results; by default red and orange are shown and green is hidden, so that you see first what needs attention, and whether you can change these boxes depends on your plan. Through Open filters you can also restrict the view by Jurisdictions, to concentrate on the countries or organisations you care most about among those screened, by Nice, to look only at certain classes of goods and services, and by Products/Services, where you type a product or service and the matching Nice classes are selected for you. The filters change what the results screen displays, so you can, for instance, check how the picture looks when you leave out a class you are unlikely to use. Filtering only changes the display: it does not create a new screening and does not cost anything. If, on the other hand, you want to screen different jurisdictions or classes from the start, change them in the configuration; that creates a new configuration, which is a new screening and is priced again.

Whether you can see the mark behind each dot depends on your plan and on the kind of screening you ran. In a screening with full details, hovering a dot on the Distribution Chart shows the name and image of the existing trade mark it represents; without full details you see the dot and its colour, which is enough to judge the overall risk but not to identify the mark. On Darwin GSE, the Core and Prime plans include All-You-Can-Screen with full details, while on the Free plan a detailed Screening is charged in Silver credits; Subscriptions shows the current figures and what your account's plan includes. If your plan does not show the details, or you need more than a name and an image, choose View results: this turns the screening into a full search and opens the ranked results list, where each mark comes with its file number, modality, dates, Nice classes, status, owner and representative, and where you can select marks for a report. That step is charged according to your plan, and the Confirmation of Purchase window shows the cost before anything is taken. If you think your plan should include full details and you do not see them, ask an Admin of your account to check the plan in Subscriptions, or contact support through the Help Centre.

When a Positioned Screening shows you something worth looking into, choose View results on its results screen. Darwin GSE turns the screening into a full search and opens the results list you would get from Search: result type buttons such as Graphical Results, Textual Results, Non Graphical Results, Color Results and Semantic Results, depending on what the search produced; the marks ranked from most similar; the Cards, List and Details views; the Jurisdictions, Nice and Products/Services filters; tick boxes to choose what goes into the report; Search this Image; and, where its conditions are met, AI Assisted Analysis. The full search is a separate service and is charged according to your plan, so before it runs the Confirmation of Purchase window shows what it will cost and your balance before and after, and you can cancel at that point. Once it has run, the search appears as a new card in the session searches strip at the top of the page, so you can come back to it during the session without paying again. Keep in mind that a screening does not offer cropping or the Include inactive records option; if you need those, start a search from the configuration screen instead, where you can crop the image and include cancelled, refused or abandoned records.

The AI Assisted Analysis is a set of interactive charts that help you understand the trade mark landscape around your concept, built from the marks your search actually found. You open it with the sparkles button on the results list. It offers four views: Concept Tree, which shows your concepts together with broader and narrower related concepts as a graph you can expand; Timeline, which shows how often the concepts were used in registrations year by year over roughly the last 25 years; WordCloud, which shows how frequently each concept appears; and Colors, which shows the colours used by the registrations. A side list lets you choose which concepts to look at, up to 12 at a time. Everything is limited to the jurisdictions and Nice classes of your search, so the charts describe the market you are interested in rather than the whole world. The analysis is a way of exploring trends and crowded areas; it is not a written opinion or verdict on your mark, and it does not tell you whether you can register it. It cannot be exported, so if you want to keep what you see, note your conclusions and export the results list itself to PDF or Excel. The back button returns you to the results.

The AI Assisted Analysis needs two things to work with, and the sparkles button on the results list stays disabled until both are present. First, the search must have semantic concepts: these are the ideas the AI proposes from your image, shown as chips under Semantic Concepts in the Image Information panel of the configuration screen. Second, the search must have produced graphical or non-graphical results, because the charts are built from the marks found. The most common reason for a disabled button is therefore a text-only search, which has no image to draw concepts from, or an image search in which all the concepts were removed before running it. Another is a search that returned no graphical or non-graphical results at all. To use the analysis, start a search with an image, open Toggle Image Information, check that Semantic Concepts holds at least one concept (you can add your own, remove those that do not fit, or choose them in the Concept Tree, up to 12) and run the search. Bear in mind that changing the concepts or other parameters of a search you have already run creates a new configuration, which is a new search and is priced again. If both conditions are met and the button is still disabled, contact support through the Help Centre with the Reference of the search.

The Timeline and the WordCloud are two of the views in the AI Assisted Analysis, which you open with the sparkles button on the results list. The Timeline shows how often each concept was used in trade mark registrations year by year, over roughly the last 25 years, within the jurisdictions and Nice classes of your search. You choose the concepts to follow in the side list, up to 12, and the chart shows how their use has evolved, so you can see whether an idea has been growing in popularity, has peaked or has faded; a concept that many new applicants have adopted recently suggests a busier field and a harder time standing out. The WordCloud shows the concepts by frequency: the larger a word appears, the more often that concept occurs among the registrations found, which gives you an immediate sense of which ideas dominate your market and which are rare. Together they help you describe the landscape around your mark, discuss alternatives with a client or a creative team, and spot themes that competitors already rely on. Both views are drawn from the marks your search found, so they reflect the scope you chose. They are aids to understanding trends, not a verdict on whether your mark can be registered, and they cannot be exported.

The Colors chart is the view of the AI Assisted Analysis that looks at colour. It shows the colours used by the trade mark registrations found by your search, within its jurisdictions and Nice classes, as bubbles, so you can see at once which colours many registrations share. It gives you a quick sense of the colour space in your market, telling you which colours are crowded because many marks in your classes already use them, and which are comparatively free. That is useful when you are choosing or adjusting a palette, preparing arguments about distinctiveness, or explaining to a client why a particular shade may make a logo blend in with its competitors. You can compare the chart with the Palette shown in the Image Information panel of the configuration screen, which lists up to six main colours of your own image with their names and share of the image, and with the Color Results in the results list, which rank marks by colour palette, closest colours first. Like the other views of the analysis, the Colors chart is an exploration tool drawn from the marks found; it is not a verdict on whether your mark can be registered, and it cannot be exported. The back button takes you back to the results list.

Everything the AI produces in Darwin GSE is a proposal for you to check, not a decision. The AI describes your image, reads text in it (filled in and marked AI suggested), proposes semantic concepts and a Vienna classification, finds semantic results and builds the AI Assisted Analysis charts. You can correct the search text, remove or add concepts, and decide what goes into your report. The Generated Description is informative only and carries the reminder that AI can make mistakes; neither it nor the Vienna proposal changes the result. Some features are marked BETA: Vienna Categories, the Conceptual chart and Semantic Results, whose results are correct but may not be complete, so do not treat the absence of a semantic match as proof that none exists. The results list ranks marks from most similar to least, and screenings colour them by the possibility of an opposition; these are strong aids for finding relevant earlier rights, but similarity ranking is not the same as the legal judgement an examiner, a court or an opponent would make. Searches and screenings support your decision; they are not legal advice and do not guarantee registration or the absence of oppositions. For important filings, your plan may offer analysis by a human expert, which support or sales can arrange, or you can ask your IP adviser to review the results.

No. Darwin GSE runs its AI on Darwin's own AI services, so the API keys, providers and model choices your account may have set up for other Darwin Suite systems are not used here. That is why the API Keys & Models panel does not appear in your Profile in GSE: there is nothing to configure. The image description, the text read from your image, the semantic concepts, the Vienna proposal, the semantic results and the AI Assisted Analysis charts are all produced by Darwin's own services, and their cost is part of the price of the search or screening shown in the Confirmation of Purchase window, so you do not receive a separate bill from an AI provider. Other systems of the suite work differently: in Darwin Ignite, for example, features such as the document workflow and the AI assistant ARIA use the account's own choice of provider and model and the account's own keys, set in Profile > API Keys & Models, and every call is metered and recorded. If your organisation uses both, the keys you configure there do not affect GSE, and GSE searches do not use your provider allowance. In every case the AI only proposes; you review and decide.

You can export both search results and screenings from their results screens with Export to PDF or Export to Excel. On a search, first decide what the report should include: each result in the list has a tick box, the most relevant marks are pre-selected for you, and you can tick or untick others, or use Unselect all to start again; the report contains the marks you have selected, together with the search parameters. On a screening, the report covers the screening as a whole. When you choose one of the export buttons, a Generating Report message appears, saying that it may take a few moments and that you can close the message but should not navigate away from the page. When the report is ready, the file downloads to your computer through your browser, usually to your Downloads folder. PDF is the better choice for sending to a client or keeping on file, and Excel is handy when you want to sort, filter or annotate the results yourself. Reports are laid out with your account's report layout, with the header, footer and side images that an Admin has set in Profile > Reports. Exporting does not run the search again, and reports in PDF or Excel are listed among the features of the GSE plans; if a download does not arrive, check your browser's downloads list.

A search report from Darwin GSE records both what you searched for and what you found. It starts with the search parameters: the image you searched, if any, the text, the jurisdictions and the Nice classes, and, where an image was used, the proposed Vienna classification from the Vienna Categories panel, which is given for information only. It then lists the results you selected in the results list, with their details, such as the mark's name and image, file number, modality, filing and registration dates, Nice classes, status, owner and representative. Because the report contains only your selection, it is worth reviewing the tick boxes before exporting: the most relevant marks are pre-selected, but you can add those you consider important and remove those that are not, and Unselect all clears the list if you prefer to choose from scratch. The report is available as PDF, ready to share with a client or to attach to a file, or as Excel, convenient for sorting and annotating. Its appearance follows your account's report layout, with the header, footer and side images and text that an Admin configures in Profile > Reports, so reports carry your organisation's identity. A report presents the results of a search; it is not a legal opinion and does not guarantee registration.

A screening report gathers the whole of a Positioned Screening into one document you can keep or share. It opens with the overall summary, the short text that says whether oppositions look possible, and the image you screened. It then includes the four charts and the four world maps, one for each dimension, Graphical, Conceptual, Chromatic and Textual, so that the reader can see where any risk comes from, followed by a summary map that colours each jurisdiction by the overall result. A chart of jurisdictions by Nice class shows how the picture varies across the classes you screened, which is helpful when you are deciding which goods and services to claim. Finally, there is a page for each jurisdiction with its results, so a reader interested in one market can go straight to it. Colours follow the screen: red for May be impossible, orange for May have issues and green for No Foreseeable problems. You create the report with Export to PDF or Export to Excel on the screening's results screen, and it uses your account's report layout, with the header, footer and side images that an Admin sets in Profile > Reports. Like the screening itself, the report is an indication to support your decision, not legal advice, and it does not guarantee registration or the absence of oppositions.

Reports are put together when you ask for them, so their preparation time depends on how much they hold. A search with many selected results, or a screening across many jurisdictions and classes with its charts, maps and a page per jurisdiction, simply takes longer than a small one. While the Generating Report message is on screen, you can close the message itself, but do not navigate away from the page, refresh it or sign out, because the file is delivered to the page you are on and downloads when it is ready. If you are exporting search results and do not need every mark, reducing your selection with the tick boxes makes the report smaller and quicker. If the PDF takes particularly long, trying Export to Excel instead may help, as a spreadsheet has less layout to compose. Check also that your browser has not blocked or silently saved the download: look in its downloads list or your Downloads folder. If a report never arrives, or you see Server error or Something went wrong!, wait a moment and try again; if the problem persists, contact support through the Help Centre and include the Reference of the search or screening, so the team can find it quickly.

Yes, depending on your plan. The Darwin GSE plans include expert-authenticated Screening analysis by a human and Search analysis by a human, in which a specialist reviews the results rather than leaving the interpretation to you alone. This analysis is paid in Gold credits per jurisdiction reviewed. As listed in the plans, on Core it is 150 Gold credits per jurisdiction for a Screening and 175 for a Search, and on Prime 125 Gold credits for a Screening and 150 for a Search; Subscriptions shows the current figures and what your plan offers. There is no button for it on the results screens: support or the sales team arrange it with you, so contact support through the Help Centre, or Techframe's sales team, quoting the Reference of the search or screening and the jurisdictions you want reviewed. Because expert analysis is priced in Gold credits, which are bought separately and never expire, make sure your account has enough of them; Gold credits are bought with the + next to the balance in the user menu. An expert review adds human judgement to the similarity ranking and colours of the tool, which is particularly valuable before an important filing or an opposition, but it still supports your decision and is not a guarantee of registration.

Darwin GSE and Darwin Ignite are separate systems of Darwin Suite that work hand in hand. Ignite is the IP management system used by agents, attorneys and law firms, and it includes Viabilities, where the practice registers viability (registrability) requests: the brand expression, the Nice classes, the jurisdictions, the requester and the language. The searching behind those requests is done by GSE, with the same AI trade mark search you run directly in GSE. Both systems share the same platform. You sign in with the same email and password, the same account, team and roles apply, and subscriptions and billing are managed for the account in the same Profile, each system having its own subscription. If your account uses both, you move between them from Systems in the user menu without signing in again, and Accounts lets you change the account you work in if you belong to several; the account you choose scopes all the data you see. In practice, many users run a quick screening or a full search in GSE, export the report in PDF or Excel and keep it with the client's viability or case in Ignite. Which systems appear in your Systems menu depends on your account's subscriptions.

Darwin GSE and Darwin Genius share the same engine and the same trade mark data, so both look at the same registered marks. The difference is the moment at which you use them and how deep you go. GSE is the tool for the full clearance search: besides Positioned Screening it has the Search button, which runs every search type the input allows (Graphical, Color and Semantic from an image, Textual and Non Graphical from text), the crop tool to compare only part of an image, the option to include inactive records, the Image Information panel and the full results list with filters, selection, Search this Image and AI Assisted Analysis. Genius is meant for quick screening during the creation phase, when designers, agencies, marketing teams or start-ups want to know whether a name, a logo sketch or a slogan is distinctive and has a chance of registration, before final artwork or client decisions. It has no Search button and no crop tool: you screen with Positioned Screening and, when you need more, upgrade a Simple Screening to a Detailed Screening, or upgrade a Screening to a Search, as charged per your plan. If you need crops, inactive records and the full search every time, use GSE; for early checks of ideas, Genius is the lighter choice.

Yes. Darwin Suite uses one federated single sign-on, so the email address and password you use for Darwin GSE are the same for every Techframe system, including Darwin Genius, Darwin Ignite, Darwin Lightbox and Darwin Axiom. You do not register again: on another system's sign-in page you simply sign in with your existing details, and if you use Two-step sign in, the same authenticator app applies. Signing in, however, is not the same as having access to that system's work. Each system needs a subscription for the account, chosen by an Admin in Subscriptions, or an invitation from an account that already uses it. When an account has the system, you move to it from Systems in the user menu without signing in again, and if you belong to several accounts you choose between them from Accounts. If you join a system for which your account has no subscription, you are enrolled as Reader, so you can look around but not change anything, and that account's administrators are informed so that they can decide what to do. Your personal details, such as your name and interface language, follow you across the suite, while your role is set per account by its administrators.

No. A Darwin GSE search or screening is decision support, not a legal opinion, and it does not guarantee that a mark will be registered or that nobody will oppose it. It shows you the registered trade marks that look, sound, read or mean something similar to your sign in the jurisdictions and classes you chose, with colours for the possibility of an opposition, so that you can see the risks early and decide where to look more closely. Whether a mark is registered depends on more than earlier marks: each office examines distinctiveness and other grounds of refusal under its own law and practice, the owners of earlier rights decide for themselves whether to oppose, and reputation, actual use, unregistered rights and the goods and services involved all play a part. The AI also proposes rather than decides; descriptions, concepts and analysis charts help you read the results but are not conclusions. For an assessment you can rely on, discuss the report with your IP adviser or attorney. Depending on your plan, you can also ask for an expert-authenticated Screening or Search analysis by a human, paid in Gold credits per jurisdiction and arranged through support or the sales team.

GSE supports each stage of a typical trade mark clearance, and you can use as many of them as the case needs. Many users start with a Positioned Screening for a quick picture: the Summary view, the Distribution Chart and the Map view show at a glance where oppositions may be possible and in which dimension, graphical, conceptual, chromatic or textual. If the sign looks promising, they run the full Search, or choose View results on the screening, with the jurisdictions and Nice classes that matter, cropping the image if the logo sits inside a label and including inactive records if needed. In the results list they go through each result type, narrow it with the Jurisdictions, Nice and Products/Services filters, and adjust the ticked selection, since the report contains what is selected. AI Assisted Analysis then helps them understand the wider landscape, such as how often the concepts have been used over the years and which colours are common. The work is exported with Export to PDF or Export to Excel, in the account's report layout, and sent to the client or kept on file, for example with a viability in Darwin Ignite. Depending on the plan, an expert human analysis can be requested before the final decision, and the filing itself is then made with the office in the usual way.

Darwin GSE, the Graphical Search Engine, is the Darwin Suite system for AI based trade mark searching: it checks a new sign for potential oppositions from earlier, already registered trade marks in the jurisdictions you choose. You can give it a logo or other image, a word mark or slogan, or both, and it compares them with registered word, figurative and mixed marks along several lines at once: how the image looks, its colours, the concepts it conveys and, for text, how the words are written and how they sound. GSE offers two ways of working. A Search runs every search type your input allows and gives you ranked results lists to review, filter and select, together with AI Assisted Analysis charts on how the concepts in your sign have been used in registrations. A Positioned Screening gives a quicker availability picture, with a short summary, colour-coded charts and world maps showing where an opposition may be likely. Both can be exported as PDF or Excel reports for your files or your client. GSE searches trade marks only, not patents, designs, domain names or company names, and its results support your decision rather than replacing legal advice. It is part of Darwin Suite by Techframe, so it shares the same sign-in, account, team and Help Centre as the other Darwin systems.

Darwin GSE is built for anyone who needs to know whether a trade mark is likely to run into earlier rights. Typical users are IP agents and attorneys, in-house IP teams, brand owners, designers, and branding and advertising agencies. The most common use is a viability or clearance study before filing: you search the proposed logo, name or slogan in the jurisdictions and Nice classes that matter and see which existing marks are close enough to cause trouble, so you can adjust the sign or the filing strategy before money is spent. GSE is equally useful for prior-art checks, when you want to know what is already registered around a concept, and for oppositions, whether you are preparing one against a newer mark or answering one filed against yours, because the results show the closest earlier marks by image, colour, concept and text. Beyond individual cases, the AI Assisted Analysis charts and the maps help you understand the landscape: how often certain concepts and colours have been used in registrations over the years, and where competitors' marks are concentrated. If your firm uses Darwin Ignite, viability requests made there rely on GSE to do the searching. In every case the results support a professional judgement; they are not a legal opinion and do not guarantee registration.

On the sign-in page choose Sign up and fill in Create your free account. Enter your Email Address, a Password and the same password again in Confirm Password. The password needs at least 8 characters and must include letters, numbers and special characters; the form warns you if it is too weak or if the two entries do not match. Use an address you can read straight away, because GSE then shows Confirmation required and sends you an email with a link you must follow to confirm your address and activate the account. If it does not arrive within a few minutes, check your spam or junk folder and the spelling of the address. If you are told an account may already exist for that email, you probably already have a Darwin Suite sign-in, for example from Darwin Ignite or Darwin Lightbox: the suite uses one sign-on, so simply sign in with that email and password. After confirming you complete a short setup page with your own details and your account's details, and the account starts on the Free plan. According to the plan description the Free plan gives you 225 Silver credits on sign-up and 150 more each month, enough to try text searches and screenings; Subscriptions always shows the current figures, and you can upgrade from there whenever you need more.

Once your email address is confirmed, GSE opens a short setup page that you move through with Next and Previous. In the Personal step you enter your First Name, Last Name, Language and Country; the language sets the interface you will see, chosen from English, Portuguese, Spanish, French, German and Italian. In the next step you describe the account your searches will belong to: its name, Type, Dimension, Activity, Account Country and TIN (tax number). Choose the Account Country carefully, because in GSE it does more than record where you are established: the jurisdictions proposed by default on every search are those of the account's country and the organisations it belongs to, and the cost of searches and screenings is calculated for the account's country as well as for the jurisdictions you choose. If the account name you type already exists, GSE warns that the account already exists and that you will join as Reader; your request then goes to that account's administrators for approval, so you join it instead of creating a duplicate. Finally you open the Terms & Conditions, tick I accept the terms & conditions and choose Finish. You are told the account was created and taken back to the sign-in page. Your personal details can be changed later in Profile > Personal Account, and an Admin can change the account details in Company Account.

Because Darwin Suite uses one federated sign-on, you do not need a new password: the email and password you use for Darwin Ignite, Darwin Lightbox or any other Darwin system also sign you in to GSE. The cleanest route is to ask an Admin of your company's account to invite you from Profile > Team, choosing your role. You receive an email with a link; following it you can accept, and see Invitation accepted, or decline, and see Invitation declined. Links do not last for ever, so if you see Invitation expired, ask for a new one. If you already belong to the account in another system, sign in to GSE and choose the right account from Accounts in the user menu, or move across from another system with the Systems switcher. Bear in mind that if your account has no GSE subscription yet, joining GSE enrols you as Reader and the account's administrators are informed, so they can decide on access and, if needed, a plan. Alternatively you can register yourself and type your company's existing account name on the setup page; GSE tells you that you will join as Reader and sends the request to the administrators for approval. Remember that the team, subscriptions, billing and credits are shared across the suite, so once inside you use the same account your colleagues use elsewhere.

On the sign-in page choose Forgot password?, enter the email address you sign in with and press Send password reset link. For your protection GSE does not reveal whether the address is registered: it simply confirms that a reset link has been sent and that you will receive an email if you are registered. Open the email, follow the link and type your new password twice. It must have at least 8 characters and include letters, numbers and special characters. Then go back to the sign-in page and sign in with the new password. Keep in mind that Darwin Suite uses a single sign-on, so the new password applies to every Darwin Suite system you use, not only to GSE. Resetting the password does not switch off two-step sign-in: if you have turned it on, you will still be asked for the code from your authenticator app after entering the password. If the email does not arrive, check your spam or junk folder and make sure you used the address you registered with, and request a fresh link rather than relying on an old email. When you are signed in, you can change your password whenever you like in Profile > Security, where it can be changed at most twice in 24 hours. If you see User inactive, please contact administrator, the problem is not the password: ask an Admin of your account to reactivate you.

GSE opens directly on the search page, so you can start working straight away. In the middle is the area for your sign: an image box, where you click to upload or drag and drop one image, and the Text to search field for a word mark or slogan. Below them are the buttons Screening List, Positioned Screening and Search: Search runs a full search with ranked results, while Positioned Screening gives a quicker availability picture. Once you have made searches or screenings, a strip of cards appears at the top of the page, one per search in the current session. The header carries the Tour button with the graduation cap, which walks you through the screen you are on, access to the Help Centre with its FAQs, tutorials and support, your credit balance shown as Silver and Gold credits with a + to buy more, and the user menu with Profile, Accounts, Systems and Sign out. Good first steps are to take the tour, open Profile > Personal Account to check your name and language, and turn on two-step sign-in under Security. If you are an Admin, look at Company Account, invite colleagues from Team and set your report layout in Reports. Then try a simple text search in one jurisdiction: it shows you the configuration screen, the cost confirmation and the results without spending many credits.

Both switches are in the user menu at the top right. Accounts lists every account you belong to; choose another one and GSE changes to it without asking you to sign in again. This matters because the account you select scopes everything you see and spend: the credit balance shown in the header, the plan that applies, the team, the report layout and the default jurisdictions all belong to the chosen account, and the searches you run are charged to it. Before starting a search on behalf of a particular organisation, check that the right account is selected. Systems lists the Darwin Suite systems available to you, such as Darwin Ignite, Darwin Lightbox or Darwin GSE; choosing one takes you there with the same sign-in, because the suite uses one federated sign-on with one email and password. If you open a system for which your account has no subscription, you are enrolled there as Reader and the account's administrators are informed. Keep in mind that the strip of session searches at the top of the GSE search page belongs to your current session; it is cleared when you sign out, so export the reports you need before you leave. Which accounts and systems appear depends on the accounts you have been invited to and on their subscriptions.

Yes. Every new account starts on the Free plan, described as perfect for an individual or a small team starting to get bigger. According to the plan description it gives you 225 Silver credits when you sign up and 150 Silver credits every month after that. As a guide to what those credits buy, the Free plan lists 113 Silver credits for a detailed Positioned Screening, 25 Silver credits for a text search in the European Union, international registrations, Portugal or Spain, and 250 Silver credits to open one jurisdiction for 24 hours of textual and graphical All-You-Can-Search; reports can be exported in PDF or Excel. These figures can change, so open Subscriptions for the current ones. Before any search or screening runs, the Confirmation of Purchase window shows exactly what it will cost and your balance before and after, so nothing is spent without your agreement. Silver credits come with the plan; if you need more you can buy Gold credits, which never expire and are used only once your Silver credits run out. When your needs grow, an Admin can move the account to Core or Prime from Subscriptions, which add larger monthly credit allowances, All-You-Can-Screen and advanced AI-powered analytics. For prices, see Subscriptions or contact the sales team.

Yes. Every main GSE screen has its own guided tour, started from the Tour button with the graduation cap in the header. The tour you get depends on where you are: there are tours for the start screen, the search configuration with an image and without one, the screening configuration, the search results and the screening results. Each one highlights the parts of the screen in turn, with a short explanation of what each field or button does, and you move through it with Previous and Next or leave it at any time with End. If you press Tour on a screen that has no tour of its own, you see No tour is available at this moment. Taking the tour of the start screen and of the configuration screen is a good way to begin, because together they show you where the image and text go, what the Reference, Jurisdictions and Nice fields mean and how the search is started. Running a tour costs nothing and you can repeat it whenever you like, for example after a new colleague joins or when you first open a screening's results. For a broader view, the Help Centre also offers tutorials, short videos by category of about one and a half to three minutes, and these FAQs, which you can search.

Darwin GSE shows Invalid Image when the file you upload is not in one of the formats it accepts. The accepted formats are PNG, BMP and JPEG, including the .jpg, .jpeg, .jfif, .pjp and .pjpeg extensions. Files such as GIF, TIFF, WebP, SVG or PDF are not accepted, so open them in an image editor or viewer and save or export them as PNG or JPEG before trying again; if your logo is inside a PDF, export that page as an image or take a screenshot of the logo. The image area takes one image at a time, so if you have several versions of a sign, search them one after another, removing the current image with the bin button (Delete image) before uploading the next. A file can also be refused if it is damaged or only partly downloaded, even when its extension looks right; if it does not open normally on your computer, get a fresh copy. For the best results, use a clean image of the sign itself, with little background, no surrounding text that is not part of the mark and a reasonable resolution. If the logo appears on a label or packaging, you can upload the whole picture and then use Crop Image on the configuration screen so that only the area of the logo is compared graphically.

Yes. If the AI cannot produce the Generated Description, the Image Information panel shows The image description isn't available at this moment. Please try again later., together with Retry loading image description, which you can press to try again after a moment. The description is informative only: it helps you see how the image has been understood, but it does not affect the search, so you can carry on and run the search or screening without it. While the description is missing, the Vienna Categories toggle cannot be used; the Vienna proposal is also for information only and does not change your results. The Semantic Concepts may be missing or incomplete too. Concepts matter more, because they feed the Semantic Results and AI Assisted Analysis, so check the Semantic Concepts field and add your own, up to 12, describing the ideas the sign conveys. The text the AI reads in the image may also be absent, in which case type any words in the mark in Search Text yourself. Remember that the main button stays disabled until the image has been analysed. If the description keeps failing for every image over a longer period, contact us through Contact support in the Help Centre, mentioning the Reference of the search.

Server error, with the text An unexpected error occurred, please try again later, and Something went wrong! both mean that something did not complete as expected, usually because of a temporary problem. With Server error you can choose Refresh page, which reloads the screen, or Close dialog, which returns you to where you were. Wait a moment and try the action again; often that is all it takes. If you were running a search or screening, look at the session strip at the top of the page before starting again: if its card is there, open it from the card rather than repeating the purchase, because a paid search can be reopened without paying again. If the error keeps appearing, contact us through Contact support in the Help Centre, or open a request in Support Tickets, and give as much detail as you can: the Reference of the search or screening, what you were doing, the approximate date and time, the jurisdictions you had chosen and, if possible, a screenshot of the message. You can attach a file of up to 20 MB, and the team will get back to you within 24 hours. If the message appeared during or right after a payment, say so, so that support can check how the operation stands.

For your security, a Darwin GSE session does not stay open indefinitely. If you have been away from the application for a while, or your sign-in has reached the end of its validity, you see Session expired! Your session has expired. Please sign in again. Simply sign in again with the same email and password, and with your authenticator code if you use Two-step sign in; nothing about your account, plan or credits changes. What you do lose is the session strip at the top of the search page: the cards for the searches and screenings you made belong to the session and are cleared when it ends, just as when you sign out. The searches you paid for remain recorded against your account, but there is no history screen in which to reopen them, so before stepping away from results you will need later, export them with Export to PDF or Export to Excel and keep the file. Giving each search a clear Reference also makes it easier to identify in reports and, if necessary, when you contact support. If your session expires in the middle of a search you had already paid for, contact support with its Reference rather than paying again.

Simultaneous users limit reached means that the account you are signing in to already has as many people signed in at the same time as it allows. The number of simultaneous users depends on the account's plan and configuration. If you are signed in on another computer or in another browser, sign out there and try again; closing a browser tab is not always enough, so use the sign-out option in the user menu. If the limit is reached by colleagues, wait until someone signs out, or ask an Admin of your account whether the plan should allow more simultaneous users. Two other sign-in messages are worth knowing. Wrong email or password means the combination you typed is not recognised: check for typing mistakes and the Caps Lock key, and if necessary use Forgot password? to set a new one, remembering that it is the same sign-in for every Darwin Suite system. User inactive, please contact administrator means that your user is not active in that account, for example because it has been deactivated or a join request is still waiting for approval; only an Admin of the account can resolve this, from Profile > Team. If you cannot reach an administrator, contact support.

You can close the message, but you should stay on the page. When you run a search or screening, Darwin GSE shows Success — Search is being executed. You can close this message, but don't navigate away from the form., and when you export a report it shows Generating Report — This may take a few moments. You can close this message, but don't navigate away from the page. Closing the message is fine, and during a Positioned Screening you can watch the Results type table fill in as each result becomes Ready. What you should not do is go to another page of the application, sign out or close the tab until the results appear or the file has downloaded, because the work is tied to the page that started it. You can still use other programs or browser tabs in the meantime. If you do leave by mistake, return to the search page and look at the session strip: if the card for that search is there, open it from the card, because a paid search can be reopened without paying again; for a report, simply export it again from the results. If the card is not there, for example because your session ended, contact support with the Reference of the search rather than buying it a second time.