DIfference between trademark or regisitered?

Answer 1

The ™ or SM symbol is to be used for marks that either have a pending trademark application OR for marks that are simply claiming the rights to the mark.

The ® symbol is to be used for marks that have a Federally registered trademark.

Trademarks can be names of products or services, logos, slogans, packaging and even sounds and smells. In essence, a trademark can be almost anything that is used to identify a particular product or service. Registering a trademark grants the owner exclusive rights to the mark within the specified industry. Of course, it's necessary to research the mark comprehensively prior to filing to ensure that there is no possibility of infringing upon another party.

And to be sure to clear this issue up...

The © symbol is used to denote copyright ownership.

Copyrights can be obtained for things of an artistic nature. This includes, of course, poetry, films, sculptures, music, fiction, etc. But can also include things that may not necessarily seem "artistic" in the general sense of the word. Copyrights can also be obtained for advertising copy, games, software programs and blueprints, to name just a few.

I posted some links below in case you wanted to know more. Hope that helps!

Answer 2

A registered trademark (denoted by ®) the US Patent and Trademark Office has given the name or logo a special protection from misuse by competitors or others who would like to profit illegally from the registered product's good will.

Many phrases that are used in commerce can NOT be registered, as they may be merely descriptive, (such as "radial tires," which can not re registered by any one company.

Companies use TM with their brand or logo for two different reasons: a. they have the registration (®) process in place, but the registration has not yet been approved by the US Patent and Trademark Office. b. the name that the company would like to register is simply not capable of being protected by ® (such as radial tires."

This is just a small intro to trademark law, but I hope this helps.