™ or ® or ℠? Ever wonder what all those brand name symbols mean? Here is the simple lowdown.
The ® indicates that a trademark is registered with the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
The ™ and ℠ symbols can be used when a trademark is not registered (whether or not an application for registration is pending). These symbols are a way for a trademark owner to claim proprietary rights in a mark even though the mark is not registered. The difference between the two is that ℠ stands for “service mark” and indicates that the trademark identifies a service, as opposed to a good, whereas the ™ symbol, which stands for “trademark”, is commonly used for both goods or services.
The © symbol is for copyrights, not trademarks.
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CAVEAT in international trade: The (R) indicates that a trademark is registered with the relevant national office. The (TM) and (SM) are US specific.
Using the (R) in a European country without having the (national or community) trademark registered will be found misleading, i.e. against competition law.
Using the (TM) symbol in a European country might be found misleading, i.e. against competition law, because European public in general will not correctly understand it.
Using the (TM) symbol in Germany would always be misleading where in fact no rights are established: Mere use of a sign by a company does not establish any right, before the sign is (verifiably) recognized as an indication to this company by a majority of the relevant public.
i just started my clothing line, i have created my own logo, yet i have not yet trade mark it, nor have i applied for a trade mark. Is it legal to put TM on my hang tags? If not, since my business in legally incorporated
can i use c to indicate incorporation or is the c only use for copyright?
Thank you,
Martial.
The TM symbol can be used with any logo or other mark that you are claiming an exclusive right to. You do not need to have applied for federal registration to use the TM symbol. The C symbol relates to copyright and has nothing to do with being incorporated. Incorporation is shown by using Inc. (or similar ending) at the end of the company’s name: e.g. Widgets, Inc.