Best for
Best for developers and law firms who build trademark search, screening and monitoring into their own software or AI assistants.
Trademark Search & Monitoring Comparison
Signa vs. WIPO Global Brand Database
At a glance
At a glance
Best for
Best for founders, brand owners and practitioners who want a free first search across international and national trademark collections before filing or commissioning a clearance search.
Cataleo does not name a winner. Both statements come from the vendors themselves.
Full Comparison
| Criterion | Signa | WIPO Global Brand Database |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | From $99 / month Starter, billed yearly, with 20,000 credits a month (up to 2,000 searches) and $10 per 1,000 extra credits. Growth is $399 and Scale $999 a month, also billed yearly. The page offers monthly billing and says annual billing saves up to 25%, without stating the monthly amounts. A search costs 10 credits; credit costs for screening and watches are not yet announced. | Free WIPO's terms of use describe the database as a free-of-charge public service. A WIPO account is also free and adds saved searches and record sets. |
| Free trial | Free tier with 10,000 credits on signup and 1,000 credits a month, up to 100 searches, no card required | Not stated |
| API | Yes, a REST API with webhooks, a TypeScript SDK, agent skills and a hosted MCP server at api.signa.so/mcp | The terms of use forbid automated queries, scraping and bulk downloading; the Madrid collection is available on request for a fee |
| Languages | Not stated | Information pages in Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish |
| Hosting | Cloud: a web app, a REST API, a hosted MCP server and agent skills | Web app at branddb.wipo.int |
| Registers and countries covered | 13 production offices with more than 40 million records: USPTO, EUIPO, WIPO, CIPO (Canada), IP Australia, IPOS (Singapore), UKIPO, INPI (France), Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, Spain and IMPI (Mexico), most synced daily and Canada and France weekly. DPMA, BOIP, JPO, KIPO, CNIPA and further offices are listed as planned. | International trademarks under the Madrid System, appellations of origin and geographical indications under the Lisbon System, emblems under Article 6ter, WHO international nonproprietary names, and trademarks from participating national and regional offices, with a coverage list on the database site. The Madrid collection is updated daily, EUIPO data is retrieved daily, and other national collections update as often as each office sends its data; Peru and Paraguay were added in 2026. |
| Word, phonetic and image search | Text search through five similarity channels (identical, fuzzy, embedded, phonetic and look-alike characters), each hit labelled with its match tier and the channels that found it. Image search is listed as coming soon. | Search by keywords, names, numbers, goods and services and image similarity, or a combination of them. Logo search takes an uploaded JPG, PNG or WebP image with a choice of search strategy, and the separate Vienna Classification Assistant suggests Vienna codes for figurative elements. |
| Goods, services and Nice classes | Search and watches filter by Nice class, and classification endpoints list classes and goods and services and suggest and validate goods and services wording | Search by goods and services, plus the separate Global G&S Terms Explorer, which helps choose goods and services terms and their Nice classification in different languages |
| Clearance and conflict screening | A documented knockout and full similarity search workflow for clearance, a Compare Marks endpoint that scores a candidate against up to 10 selected conflicts, and a Screening product open to design partners during beta. The vendor states the results are informational data and not legal advice. | Results are a search, not a screening: the terms of use state that a result does not imply any legal opinion on likelihood of confusion, the FAQ states that WIPO is not mandated to conduct searches for third parties, and WIPO suggests also searching national and regional registers and consulting a trademark attorney |
| Watch and alerts | In beta: five watch types (mark, portfolio, owner, class and similarity), alerts typically within a day of office publication by signed webhook or polling, and computed opposition deadlines on alerts in supported jurisdictions. Image watch is listed as coming soon. | Saved searches and record sets with a free WIPO account; the FAQ states that a saved search shows new matching records when you log in again |
| Reports and exports | JSON responses from every endpoint and a monthly proof-of-monitoring attestation per watch, as a PDF and a JSON file | Reports built from selected records, up to 180 records per report, which is also the download limit; results display as a list, grid or gallery |
| Integrations and API | REST API with webhooks, a TypeScript SDK, and a hosted MCP server for Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor and VS Code; Microsoft Copilot is listed as coming soon | The terms of use forbid automated queries, web scraping and bulk downloading, and the FAQ states the database is not for sale. WIPO offers the full collection of Madrid System international marks on request and for a fee. |
| AI features | stated Yes | No |
| MCP-ready | stated Yes | No |
| Deployment | more entries Cloud (SaaS), Browser-based | Browser-based |
| Onboarding | Documentation and knowledge base | more entries Documentation and knowledge base, Live online demos and webinars |
| Integrations | Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini, Cursor, Visual Studio Code | Not stated |
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Row where the values differ The small markers point at the lower number, the longer list or the stated feature. They describe the data, they are not a verdict.
The short version
Key Differences
- Starting price Signa From $99 / month WIPO Global Brand Database Free
- Deployment Signa Cloud (SaaS), Browser-based WIPO Global Brand Database Browser-based
- Hosting Signa Cloud: a web app, a REST API, a hosted MCP server and agent skills WIPO Global Brand Database Web app at branddb.wipo.int
- AI features Signa Yes WIPO Global Brand Database No
- MCP-ready Signa Yes WIPO Global Brand Database No
Every line is one datapoint from the table above, picked automatically. Nothing here is written text.
The trade-offs
Strengths and Limitations
Signa
Strengths
- Free tier with 10,000 credits on signup and 1,000 a month, no card required
- Hosted MCP server and connectors for Claude, ChatGPT and Gemini
- Thirteen registers in one JSON schema, most of them synced daily
- Watch alerts carry a computed opposition deadline in supported jurisdictions
Limitations
- Screening, listing scans and monitoring are in beta, and image search and image watch are not yet available
- No German, Benelux, Japanese, Korean or Chinese register yet; these are listed as planned
- Paid plans are shown billed yearly; monthly amounts are not stated on the pricing page
- Credit costs for screening and watches are not yet announced
WIPO Global Brand Database
Strengths
- Free of charge, with a free account for saved searches
- Madrid, Lisbon, 6ter, INN and participating national collections in one search
- Logo search from an uploaded JPG, PNG or WebP image
- The FAQ states that uploaded logo images are not kept once the analysis is complete
Limitations
- Reports and downloads are capped at 180 records
- National collections are only as current as each office's last data delivery
- The terms of use forbid automated queries and bulk downloads, and the database is not for sale
- No conflict assessment; WIPO points to national registers and trademark attorneys for that
Plans
Pricing
Signa
- Free $0 Per month. 10,000 credits on signup, then 1,000 credits a month, up to 100 searches, no card required.
- Starter $99 Per month billed yearly. 20,000 credits a month, up to 2,000 searches, $10 per 1,000 extra credits, 300 requests a minute.
- Growth $399 Per month billed yearly. 100,000 credits a month, up to 10,000 searches, $5 per 1,000 extra credits, 1,000 requests a minute.
- Scale $999 Per month billed yearly. 500,000 credits a month, up to 50,000 searches, $2.50 per 1,000 extra credits, 3,000 requests a minute.
- Enterprise Not stated Contact sales. Custom credits, white-label and data rights, SLA and dedicated support.
WIPO Global Brand Database
- Free Free Public service of WIPO; a free WIPO account adds saved searches and record sets.
What users say
Review Scores · opens after launch
Signa
- Ease of use
- Not rated yet
- User interface
- Not rated yet
- Onboarding
- Not rated yet
- Support and service
- Not rated yet
- Value for money
- Not rated yet
- Features
- Not rated yet
No reviews yet. Nothing has been published here yet, and no score is shown. How a review is checked before it appears is described below.
WIPO Global Brand Database
- Ease of use
- Not rated yet
- User interface
- Not rated yet
- Onboarding
- Not rated yet
- Support and service
- Not rated yet
- Value for money
- Not rated yet
- Features
- Not rated yet
No reviews yet. Nothing has been published here yet, and no score is shown. How a review is checked before it appears is described below.
How we check reviews
Before sending, the author has to confirm three things: that they have used the product themselves, that they work neither for the vendor nor for a competitor, and that nobody is paying them for the review. We also ask whether the vendor invited them to write it. That answer is required, either answer is accepted, and it stays with the review.
Every review is read by a person before it appears. An email address is required and is confirmed: we send a link to it, and a review does not reach us until the author opens that link, so a review has a sender who was reachable at least once rather than being anonymous. Where what somebody writes needs backing, we ask them for evidence that they used the product, and a review that does not get it is not published. We publish positive and negative reviews alike, we pay nothing and offer nothing for a review, and we accept none that was bought or incentivised.
What we cannot do is verify a purchase. There is no shop here and no account, so whether the author really used the tool rests on their own declaration, on whatever we ask them for, and on the plausibility of what they write. We say so rather than implying a check that does not exist.
A vendor cannot buy a review, and cannot have one removed or changed because they dislike it. We remove or edit a review only if it breaks our rules or the law, for example a false statement of fact. Paid placement has no effect on which reviews appear or on any score.
Where this comes from
Where this comes from
Signa https://signa.so/ · checked against the official source on 2026-11-05
WIPO Global Brand Database https://www.wipo.int/en/web/global-brand-database · checked against the official source on 2026-11-07
This table lists factual criteria taken from information the vendors publish themselves. For how we put it together, see the methodology.