Famous marks we check every name against

How we built the list

Brazil: 190 marks from INPI’s official list of high-renown marks in force on 20 Oct 2026, leaving out 18 figurative and 3D marks. United States: there is no official list, so we combined the 100 brands in a published ranking (Interbrand Best Global Brands 2025) with 20 marks the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board found famous in decisions from 2019 to 2024. The ranking is a commercial ranking, not a legal finding. Each entry below shows its source.

How we match

A name is close to a famous mark when any of these holds, in any class:

• it is the same name, or the famous mark is one of its words or its core (the name without words like app or labs);
• the famous mark appears inside the name (famous marks of 6 letters or more);
• the whole name is within a few letters of the famous mark: 1 change for 4-letter marks, 2 for 5 to 7 letters, 3 for 8 or more;
• it sounds the same, starts with the same letter and is within 3 letters (famous marks of 5 letters or more).

Marks of 3 letters or fewer only match as the same name or a whole word. We don’t compare each word of a longer name with the list letter by letter: names made of ordinary words kept landing a letter away from a famous mark (CHANNEL and CHANEL), which said nothing useful.

How often a made-up name triggers the notice: with the US list, 3 of 200 single made-up words and 0 of 200 two- and three-word names; with the Brazil list, 7 of 200 single made-up words and 0 of 200 Portuguese two- and three-word names. We measure this the same way as every other level on the accuracy page.

Being on this list is not a legal finding by us. It means the mark is likely to get broad protection, so a closer look is worth it. Being off the list doesn't mean a mark is weak.