Data Sources & Freshness

Understanding where trademark data comes from and how often it’s updated.

Official Data Sources

We pull trademark data directly from official government trademark offices:

Office	Source	Status	Update Frequency	Coverage
USPTO	USPTO TSDR	✅ Live	Daily	United States
EUIPO	EUIPO eSearch	✅ Live	Daily	27 EU countries
UKIPO	UK IPO	✅ Live	Daily	United Kingdom
WIPO	WIPO Global Brand Database	✅ Live	Daily	130+ countries (Madrid Protocol)

Data Normalization

The Problem We Solve

Each trademark office has different:

Data formats (XML, JSON, CSV, PDF)
Field names and structures
Status codes and taxonomies
Classification systems
Date formats and timezones

We normalize everything into a unified API response.

Unified Data Model

All trademarks, regardless of office, use our consistent schema:

{
  "id": "tm_us_1234567",
  "canonical_id": "tm_canonical_apple_001",
  "office": {
    "code": "USPTO",
    "name": "United States Patent and Trademark Office"
  },
  "mark": {
    "text": "APPLE",
    "type": "word"
  },
  "status": {
    "unified_status": "live_registered",
    "unified_status_code": "LR",
    "office_status": "Registered"
  }
}

Unified Status Codes

We map all office-specific statuses to 6 unified codes:

Code	Unified Status	Description	Office Examples
`LP`	`live_pending`	Application under examination	USPTO: “New Application”, EUIPO: “Application published”
`LR`	`live_registered`	Active registered trademark	USPTO: “Registered”, EUIPO: “Registered”
`LO`	`live_opposition`	Under opposition proceedings	USPTO: “Opposition pending”, EUIPO: “Opposition”
`DA`	`dead_abandoned`	Application abandoned	USPTO: “Abandoned”, EUIPO: “Withdrawn”
`DC`	`dead_cancelled`	Registration cancelled	USPTO: “Cancelled”, EUIPO: “Revoked”
`DE`	`dead_expired`	Registration expired	USPTO: “Expired”, EUIPO: “Expired”

We preserve the original office status in office_status for reference.

Data Freshness

Sync Schedule

USPTO: Daily sync at 02:00 UTC
EUIPO: Daily sync at 03:00 UTC
UKIPO: Daily sync at 04:00 UTC
WIPO: Daily sync at 05:00 UTC

Average sync completion time: 2-4 hours per office.

Sync Process

Download - Fetch latest data from official sources
Parse - Extract and validate fields
Normalize - Map to unified Trademark schema
Enrich - Add canonical IDs, cross-office links
Index - Optimize for fast searching
Quality Check - Validate data integrity

Last Verified Timestamp

Every trademark includes data quality metadata:

{
  "metadata": {
    "data_quality_score": 95,
    "data_completeness": 98,
    "last_verified": "2025-10-15T08:30:00Z",
    "normalization_version": "2.1"
  }
}

Fields explained:

data_quality_score - Overall data quality (0-100)
data_completeness - Percentage of fields populated
last_verified - When this record was last synced
normalization_version - Schema version used

Cross-Office Tracking

Canonical IDs

Trademarks filed in multiple offices get a canonical_id:

{
  "id": "tm_us_1234567",
  "canonical_id": "tm_canonical_apple_001",
  "related_registrations": {
    "count": 12,
    "same_mark_other_offices": [
      {
        "id": "tm_euipo_9876543",
        "office": "EUIPO",
        "registration_number": "123456",
        "status": "live_registered"
      },
      {
        "id": "tm_wipo_5555555",
        "office": "WIPO",
        "status": "live_registered"
      }
    ]
  }
}

This lets you track trademark families across jurisdictions.

Source Attribution

Every record includes a direct link to the official source:

{
  "urls": {
    "api": "https://api.signa.so/v1/trademarks/tm_us_1234567",
    "web": "https://signa.so/marks/tm_us_1234567",
    "office_url": "https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=73222079"
  }
}

Always verify critical decisions with the office_url.

Data Quality

Quality Score Calculation

We calculate quality scores based on:

Completeness (40%) - Are all fields populated?
Consistency (30%) - Do fields match expected patterns?
Freshness (20%) - How recently was it verified?
Source Reliability (10%) - Official vs derived data

Scores above 90 are considered high quality.

Known Limitations

Sync Delays

Data may be up to 24 hours behind the official source. New filings can take 24-48 hours to appear.Recommendation: For time-sensitive decisions, verify with the office_url.

Office Data Quality

We can only normalize what offices provide. Some offices have:

Missing fields
Inconsistent formats
Translation issues
Typos in original data

We flag low-quality data with lower data_quality_score.

Rapid Status Changes

Statuses can change rapidly (e.g., PENDING → REGISTERED in hours). Our daily sync may miss rapid changes.Recommendation: Monitor critical marks with webhooks.

Historical Data

We maintain current status only. Historical status changes (e.g., when a mark transitioned from pending to registered) are not yet available.Coming Soon: Status history timeline.

Design Marks

Image quality varies by office:

USPTO: High quality PNGs
EUIPO: Medium quality JPEGs
WIPO: Variable quality
UKIPO: Some missing

We provide best available quality.

Checking Data Freshness

Monitor data age in your application:

function isDataFresh(trademark, maxAgeHours = 24) {
  const lastVerified = new Date(trademark.metadata.last_verified);
  const ageHours = (Date.now() - lastVerified.getTime()) / (1000 * 60 * 60);

  return ageHours <= maxAgeHours;
}

const trademark = await getTrademark('tm_us_1234567');

if (!isDataFresh(trademark, 24)) {
  console.warn(`Data is ${getAgeHours(trademark)} hours old`);
  console.log(`Verify at: ${trademark.urls.office_url}`);
}

Data Coverage

Trademark Counts

Office	Total Trademarks	Live Registrations	Annual Filings
USPTO	3.5M+	2.8M+	~600K/year
EUIPO	2M+	1.6M+	~180K/year
UKIPO	500K+	400K+	~90K/year
WIPO	1.5M+	1.2M+	~75K/year

Total coverage: 147M+ trademark records across 200+ offices worldwide.

Geographic Coverage

US: Complete USPTO database
EU: All 27 member states via EUIPO
UK: Complete UKIPO database post-Brexit
International: 130+ countries via WIPO Madrid Protocol

Best Practices

Cache Appropriately

Trademark data doesn’t change frequently. Cache search results for several hours:

const CACHE_TTL = 6 * 60 * 60 * 1000; // 6 hours

async function searchWithCache(query) {
  const cached = cache.get(query);
  if (cached && Date.now() - cached.timestamp < CACHE_TTL) {
    return cached.data;
  }

  const data = await search(query);
  cache.set(query, { data, timestamp: Date.now() });
  return data;
}

Display Freshness

Show users when data was last updated:

function formatLastVerified(timestamp) {
  const date = new Date(timestamp);
  return `Last updated ${formatDistanceToNow(date)} ago`;
}

// Display: "Last updated 3 hours ago"

Provide Source Links

Always display the office_url so users can verify:

<a href={trademark.urls.office_url} target="_blank">
  Verify on {trademark.office.name}
</a>

Use Webhooks for Critical Marks

For important brand protection, set up monitoring rather than polling:

// Bad: Polling wastes credits
setInterval(() => checkTrademark(id), 3600000);

// Good: Webhook notification
await createMonitor({
  watches: [{ type: 'trademark_id', value: id }],
  webhook_events: ['status_change']
});

Legal Disclaimer

Important Legal NoticeThe Signa API provides informational data only and does not constitute legal advice.

Data is sourced from official trademark offices but may contain errors
Status information should be verified with official sources
Trademark law is complex and varies by jurisdiction
Filing dates, ownership, and legal status should be confirmed independently

Always consult with a qualified trademark attorney before making legal or business decisions based on this data.

Enterprise Data Features

Enterprise customers can access:

Custom sync schedules - Real-time, hourly, or on-demand
Priority indexing - New filings indexed within minutes
Historical snapshots - Access previous versions of records
Status change history - Track full trademark lifecycle
Raw office data - Access original source data
Dedicated infrastructure - Isolated data pipeline
Custom data exports - Bulk downloads in your format
SLA guarantees - Guaranteed data freshness and uptime

Contact Sales →

Status Monitoring

Check which offices are currently syncing:

curl https://api.signa.so/v1/health

{
  "status": "healthy",
  "version": "1.0.0",
  "offices": {
    "USPTO": {
      "status": "operational",
      "last_sync": "2025-10-15T06:30:00Z",
      "next_sync": "2025-10-16T02:00:00Z",
      "records": 3542891
    },
    "EUIPO": {
      "status": "syncing",
      "last_sync": "2025-10-15T03:00:00Z",
      "progress": "45%"
    }
  }
}

Get Started

API Reference

Core Concepts

Data Sources & Freshness

Official Data Sources

Data Normalization

The Problem We Solve

Unified Data Model

Unified Status Codes

Data Freshness

Sync Schedule

Sync Process

Last Verified Timestamp

Cross-Office Tracking

Canonical IDs

Source Attribution

Data Quality

Quality Score Calculation

Known Limitations

Checking Data Freshness

Data Coverage

Trademark Counts

Geographic Coverage

Best Practices

Legal Disclaimer

Enterprise Data Features

Status Monitoring

Next Steps

API Overview

Webhooks

Get Started

API Reference

Core Concepts

​Official Data Sources

​Data Normalization

​The Problem We Solve

​Unified Data Model

​Unified Status Codes

​Data Freshness

​Sync Schedule

​Sync Process

​Last Verified Timestamp

​Cross-Office Tracking

​Canonical IDs

​Source Attribution

​Data Quality

​Quality Score Calculation

​Known Limitations

​Checking Data Freshness

​Data Coverage

​Trademark Counts

​Geographic Coverage

​Best Practices

​Legal Disclaimer

​Enterprise Data Features

​Status Monitoring

​Next Steps

API Overview

Webhooks

Official Data Sources

Data Normalization

The Problem We Solve

Unified Data Model

Unified Status Codes

Data Freshness

Sync Schedule

Sync Process

Last Verified Timestamp

Cross-Office Tracking

Canonical IDs

Source Attribution

Data Quality

Quality Score Calculation

Known Limitations

Checking Data Freshness

Data Coverage

Trademark Counts

Geographic Coverage

Best Practices

Legal Disclaimer

Enterprise Data Features

Status Monitoring

Next Steps