- You ever wonder what any of these symbols mean?
I mean, we see 'em out and about all the time
on product, packaging, and commercials,
and other advertisements,
but you ever wonder what they actually mean.
Well stick around because I'm not just gonna tell you
what these symbols mean,
I'm also gonna tell you why companies use them,
what it means when we encounter these symbols on products
or service advertisements out in the wild
and how you can use them,
and more importantly, how you should not use them
to protect your business and your brand.
Hi everyone, I'm attorney Aiden Durham
with 180 Law Co in Colorado.
Welcome back to All Up In Yo' Business.
Before we get into talking about
what these different symbols all mean
if you're new to All Up In Yo' Business,
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You can also learn way more about trademarks
by downloading my free "Brandish" DIY trademark guide.
Again, you can download that for free
by clicking the link in the description.
And a quick legal disclaimer for everybody,
I am a lawyer, but I am not your lawyer,
this is not legal advice,
and it should not be considered a substitute
for actual legal advice.
If you need help with any kind of legal matter,
you should consult with an actual lawyer
not just get free info from YouTube.
All right, so let's talk about
these three different symbols
that we often encounter out in the real world,
out in real life and what they mean for trademarks
and for us as the consumers.
So this first symbol TM surprise, surprise,
it stands for trademark.
And companies of all kinds, all shapes and sizes
use this symbol to tell the general public,
to tell us consumers and potential competitors
that they are staking their trademark claim
on this trademark.
They're saying, "Hey, we're putting you all out on notice
that we are claiming our trademark rights
in this trademark."
Normally we see it maybe next to a business' logo,
or next to their company name, or their slogan.
And that's exactly what they're doing,
they're telling us,
"Hey, we are claiming our trademark rights in this thing,"
and letting you know about it.
Really similar to that TM symbol is the SM symbol,
which stands for service mark.
You might be thinking to yourself,
"Oh Aiden, what the heck's a service mark?"
A service mark is just a trademark
that's used for services rather than goods.
Some people like to use SM, some use TM for everything.
The TM symbol is acceptable to use
for both products and services.
Some folks just prefer to use SM
when they're using it with trademarks for services
rather than TM to show that it's a service mark.
Ultimately, it's the same thing,
they're both still saying,
"Hey, we are claiming our trademark rights here
and letting you know about them."
Now here's the fun part,
here's what's really great.
That TM or SM symbol meaning trademark or service mark,
those symbols can be used by anybody.
Any business can use TM or SM to let the public know
that we're claiming our trademark rights.
You don't have to have a registered trademark,
you don't even have to have a trademark application pending.
As long as you're using the trademark in commerce,
under common law you've already got some rights
to that trademark, and by virtue of that
you are allowed to use that TM symbol or the SM symbol
if you're selling services
to start protecting the rights that you've already got.
Now, on the other hand, that little R in a circle symbol
that's something a little different,
that stands for registered
and lets us know that this is a registered trademark,
not just any old trademark,
not just common law trademark rights.
When we see that R symbol,
we know that company has a registered trademark
for that trademark, their logo, their business name,
whatever we see it next to,
they have a registered trademark for it.
And because of that registration,
they're permitted to use that little R in a circle symbol.
But only, only if you have an actually registered trademark
are you permitted to use that symbol.
If you do not have a trademark registration
with the United States Patent and Trademark Office,
you're not supposed to use that symbol.
Even if you've got a pending application, doesn't matter
that R it means registered
and you're only allowed to use it
when the trademark is registered.
If you try to skirt around this, I mean, okay,
I've never heard of people getting in
actual serious trouble,
it's not like you're gonna go to jail
if you use that R symbol
and you don't have a trademark registration.
I guess that could happen, it's probably unlikely.
But if the US PTO catches wind
that you've been using that symbol
without an actual trademark registration,
it could come back to bite you later on
and get you in some hot water,
potentially you could be banned from registering trademarks
in the United States that's a far off potential,
but it is a potential.
There's also a possibility
for some kind of false advertisement claims
from consumers and from the FTC.
Because if you're putting out in your advertisements
that you own this trademark registration,
which is what you're saying
when you use that little R symbol,
then that could be falsely representing
or advertising your company too.
And if you try to submit a trademark application
and you show them a specimen,
so your proof of your use of the trademark.
If your specimen shows that you're using that symbol,
that R in a circle symbol,
the US PTOs gonna kick it right back to you
and say, "No, no, no, no, you're not allowed to use that,
you need to show us something else."
So, just by virtue of using it
when you're not supposed supposed to,
that will prevent you from actually getting
a trademark registered.
So what's the point of these companies
or us using the TM or SM, or even that R symbol?
The main point is just kind of
for proactive brand protection.
Again, we're putting people on notice essentially,
we're letting the general public know
by using these symbols, we're letting them know
we are either claiming our trademark rights,
whatever they may be, we are claiming them,
we're letting you know about them,
or we're letting you know we have this registered trademark
and we're staking our claim to it.
In some instances that use using the symbol in that way
and using it on your marketing,
advertising your product packaging, it can sometimes help
in like an infringement case or an infringement lawsuit
to show that the person was on notice
of your registration or of your trademark,
and therefore it might have been like knowing infringement.
It helps to get rid of some of the potential,
"oh, I wasn't aware of your trademark
and, you know, so I shouldn't be guilty of infringing."
It can potentially help in that sense,
but either way regardless of the status of your business,
or how long your business has been in existence,
or if you do or don't have a trademark registration,
you can use one of these symbols
to help protect your business, and your brand,
and protect whatever trademark rights exist
that you might have.
I recommend people primarily use these on things
that a lot of consumers are going to encounter.
So if you're selling goods
then your products or your product packaging
wherever you have the logo, or the name, or the slogan,
whatever it is, that's a trademark.
If you have your business name registered with the US PTO
then go ahead and slap that R in a circle symbol.
Where you use your business name on your website,
or on your marketing, or advertising materials.
Same thing with your logo,
if you've got your logo on your product packaging,
slap that little R in a circle symbol there
if you've got that trademark registration.
You don't have to use it absolutely everywhere,
you don't have to have your Facebook business page
have your business name and the the R symbol
or the TM symbol.
You can, it's not gonna hurt,
it's not absolutely necessary,
but wherever it looks good, wherever it doesn't look odd,
and it makes sense
and you want to let people know
you've got trademark rights here,
it's a good idea to use that TM, SM, or the R symbol.
A quick little caveat to the R symbol thing.
So I told you the TM can be used by anybody
regardless of trademark registration status.
The R is only for people with a registered trademark.
Just because you've got a trademark registered
doesn't mean you have to use that R symbol,
you can still use TM or SM if you want to.
Why would you if you could use the R
and show off your trademark registration?
But you can, if you want to.
So let's do a quick recap.
TM symbol means trademark can be used by anyone.
SM symbol means service mark similar to trademark
can be used by anyone,
but we typically only use it for services.
Service based businesses.
And then finally, the R symbol means registered
and it can only be used with registered trademarks.
That's all for this episode folks,
if you learned a thing or two go ahead and like this video,
gimme a little thumbs up.
Make sure you subscribe if you haven't already done so.
Click that little bell so you get notified
when I post a new video.
And check the description for a link
to download my free "Brandish" DIY trademark guide.
Now, if you wanna keep the trademark train going,
I've got another video that goes into a whole lot of detail
about the benefits of trademark registration,
and why it's a good idea and why you should do it.
So, check it out and I will meet you over there.
Thanks for watching, I'm Aiden Durham
and I'll see you next time.