It just takes a little patience Dale.

Once you've found the governmental sites (in Canada we have one similar to the one to which Myridon linked) it just takes some searching through the lists and categories.

One thing you have to remember though...you can be sued by pretty much anybody, even if they don't have a case.

So, if you decide that you want to use Deck Out for a brand of make-up, and Sears has not added make-up to the list of products to which they apply the name, you are legally allowed to use it.

However, that doesn't prohibit Sears from sueing you to make you stop. They have the financial strenght to drag you to court and make you lose a lot of money defending your right to the name.

What usually happens is that the person with less money gives up because they can't afford the fight.

We had something like this happen last year. I sold a line of foam baths to one of my clients. They decided to call it Oasis.

Lassonde, the makers of Oasis fruit juices, sent them a letter of intent, threatening to sue if they didn't stop using the name.

Lassonde did not register Oasis for health or beauty products, so my client was legally entitled to the name, however, it was cheaper for the client to scrap the labels and change names, than to fight in court.

It annoys me that they had to give up the name. If I would have been that retail chain, I would have told Lassonde, "Fine, we'll change our name since that's cheaper than going to court, but from this day forward, there will never be another Lassonde product sold in any of our stores again!"

That approach worked marvellously well with Zellers (a Canadian chain) one year when they were told to stop selling a product that competed with a Proctor & Gamble item.