I need a way to query the trademarks from the uspto.gov site in order to find out if a trademark of a specific name exists. I do understand that this will need an API but I’m not sure how to go about it. Could someone please guide me on creating an API or an alternative. I’m open to learn a new technology to achieve this.
You can’t “create” an API unless you have access to their server (you don’t.)
When you do an AJAX call, there are a few things that can happen:
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You are requesting a specific file (maybe JSON, or something else) and that file is in the public directory so the server sends it back to you.
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Based on the URL to which you are sending the request, the server sends you back a specific file.
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Based on the URL (or any other info sent with the request) the server builds a data object and sends it back.
Each of those things have to be actively planned on the server. Most servers do not have APIs to which the public can make calls.
Does this site have an API? I don’t know. Do you?
Thank you for your reply @kevinSmith. Sorry if I sounded silly asking whether I could “create” an API.
Besides, the site does have an API for patents but does not provide any for trademarks. There are sites which do the exact same thing of querying a specific text to find out whether a trademark exists or not but I can’t figure out how they achieved it. I tried studying the js files using developer tools but couldn’t get much out of it.
Thank you for your reply @sorinr . I did check out their api docs but they do not provide any for trademarks, just patents.
Well, presumably, they do have an API that they use. You could set up an MITM system and try to watch it and see if you can figure it out. It may be restricted to certain domains, but sometimes you get lucky. The other option is to send them an email and ask.
Oh, okay @kevinSmith. Could you please let me know how do I setup a MITM system?
I will send them an email inquiring about their process. Thanks for your help.
Sorry, I haven’t done it enough times to give advice. MITM stands for “man in the middle” - you set up software to intercept the http traffic for you can watch it and figure out what headers, etc. are being sent. I’m sure there are resources on the web you can find that would give you better advice than I can. But I’d email them first.
Well, that’s very easy, my friend. You can access that site https://vakilsearch.com/trademark-search , there you will find everything about trademarks. The site is very simple, I think you will understand everything by yourself.