You've probably noticed the little "tm" or "R" sometimes appended to product names. What do they mean?
First, anyone who has a trademark in a word or symbol is entitled to use the "tm" designation in connection with their use of the trademark. And remember - in the US, at least, you do not need to register with federal or state authorities in order to claim something as a trademark, as long as it fulfills the criteria we spoke about earlier and you are actually using the mark. In fact, trademark owners who want to protect their trademarks against infringement are often well-advised to do so - it's a way of informing the world that you have (or you think you have) a protectable trademark.
The "R" - or, more properly, the "R" in a circle (hard to reproduce in ASCII text!) - is reserved for those who have registered their trademark with the US Patent and Trademark Office.
But what about your use of someone else's mark? If you refer to a trademark that is owned by someone else, do you have to put the "tm" designation next to the trademark? If you are advertising your product as being "better than Lotus 1-2-3," do you have to write "better than Lotus 1-2-3 [tm]"? Or do you at least have to put a little notice that says "Lotus 1- 2-3 is a trademark belonging to Lotus Development Inc."?
Well actually, you don't. That is, you are not infringing Lotus's trademark if you omit the "tm" designation. On the other hand, it is generally regarded as a courtesy to those who own valuable trademarks to acknowledge their trademark rights in this manner - and, if your use of the trademarks is ever challenged, a notice of this kind will certainly help you to argue that you had no intention to confuse consumers by using the mark because you were careful to indicate that the trademark belonged to someone else.
authors:
| Larry Lessig | David Post | Eugene Volokh |
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