Aug 25, 2021 | Registered trademarks – use of ®

Registered trademarks – use of ®

In our daily lives, we can often see many designs with “®”, “™” and “©” around them. Today, we are going to talk about these marks and how to use them.

Once you have a basic understanding of trademarks, I believe you will find that the majority of products you contact with have similar marks on them. These marks represent various types of designs for easier identification. The following shows the description of these marks:

1. ™ : This mark means “Trademark”. After your trademark application has been filed, you can add “™” next to it whenever you use the trademark, with the aim to inform others that your trademark application has been filed and has received some degree of protection.

2. ® : This mark means “Registered”, which means that you have obtained trademark rights after your trademark application has been approved by the Intellectual Property Department. This mark can also inform consumers or competitors of the fact that your design was protected under the Intellectual Property Law, and that they could not apply for protection of that design at will. The advantage of adding this mark is to inform the public that you have already obtained trademark rights for the design.

3. © : This mark means “Copyright”, which represents the copyright protection of an author for works created by him/her. Whereas, although the copyright law stipulates that “An author shall enjoy copyright for his/her completed work”, in other words, after completion of your design/work, you can add “©” next to the design. However, according to practical experience, it is still recommended that you register the copyright after completion of work to avoid disputes.

Then, you may wonder, how do we place these marks onto the protected designs? In principle, there is no special requirement internationally or in Taiwan that it needs to be placed at a specific location. Therefore, you may often see that some put “®” on the upper right, lower right, or upper left, lower left. The writer suggests that, in accordance with reading habits, it is recommended to put it on the “upper right, lower right”, so that others can distinguish more clearly and quickly. Of course, size of the mark should not exceed size of the trademark to avoid blurring of focus.

Do you have a better understanding of the use of marks through the above description? If you have further questions, please feel free to contact us, we can provide you with the most suitable advice with our rich experience in trademark applications.