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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.