In that role, he was responsible for writing, editing, and strategizing content geared toward small business owners. Before that, he worked at PCMag as a business analyst.
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Read More. More from. What Is A Scrum Board? Should You Make One? By Chauncey Crail Contributor. Information provided on Forbes Advisor is for educational purposes only. Your financial situation is unique and the products and services we review may not be right for your circumstances. We do not offer financial advice, advisory or brokerage services, nor do we recommend or advise individuals or to buy or sell particular stocks or securities.
Performance information may have changed since the time of publication. Past performance is not indicative of future results. Forbes Advisor adheres to strict editorial integrity standards. To the best of our knowledge, all content is accurate as of the date posted, though offers contained herein may no longer be available. Chauncey Crail Contributor. Jane Haskins Contributor. Rob Watts Editor. The Forbes Advisor editorial team is independent and objective. A trademark is a word, phrase, symbol, design, color, sound, or a combination thereof, that serves to identify the source of goods or services from those of another.
Questions frequently arise about how trademarks should be used and about when and how trademark symbols should be used. Do not, and do not allow third parties to, use your trademark as a noun—instead it should be used as an adjective modifying a generic word.
Trademarks can be victims of their own success if not properly managed. When your product or service name is viewed as a generic type of product or technology, you may have lost your trademark rights. Why Do Trademark Symbols Exist? Trademark symbols exist to serve as notice to the public that the mark preceding the symbol is a trademark. Notice may serve to deter others from using the mark, but can also provide evidentiary benefits in any potential infringement suits.
When Should the Symbols Be Used? Use of trademark symbols is not actually required by law, but doing so is beneficial. The following are some general guidelines for using the trademark symbols. Placement The designation should be placed immediately following the mark that is registered.
The norm is to place the symbol in superscript in the upper-right-hand corner, or in some cases, in subscript in the lower right-hand corner. Frequency Use of a trademark symbol in the first prominent mention of a trademark e. The symbol does not have to be used every time the mark is used.
Instead, use the symbol in the first instance the mark is used, in the most prominent use of the mark, or both. It also must only be used in the regions in which you possess a valid trademark registration. It is without doubt worth a small investment to discuss your particular circumstances with a trademark attorney.
The below should not be treated as an exhaustive list of considerations but rather as a small group of illustrations as to why that advice may be required:. Online you may see many discussions which tend towards thinking that the use of such symbols is irrelevant and indeed the registration of a trademark at all and has no impact on the level of protection you enjoy. Perhaps that it is true in some regions but not in all. For example, where your mark or brand is not registrable due to descriptiveness, consistent use of the brand can eventually lead you to acquire distinctiveness which might permit registration.
In this case, using the TM symbol alongside the brand over a period of time potentially allows you to illustrate that you have been using this brand as a trademark over an extended period of time and it has become recognisable in the marketplace as serving as a distinct identifier for your business. Use of the TM symbol in the case of unregistered marks can also signify to the public at large and potential infringers that you have the legalities of protecting your brand in mind.
This may serve, in some cases, to act as a deterrent to infringement. It should also be borne in mind, that in the creation of a brand, you are creating an intangible but material asset of your company.
For potential investors, this can be a critical factor in the decision making process. While an unregistered brand name may have some value, it is not comparable with the asset potential of a registered brand. There is no single right or wrong approach. There are myriad considerations to bear in mind with each choice to use an appropriate symbol or not.
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