What is a registered trademark?

Photo of Tomas Orsula

Written by Tomas Orsula

Senior Trademark Attorney

While a trademark is any sign capable of distinguishing the goods or services of one company from those of another, a registered trademark is a trademark that has been registered within an intellectual property office, which extends the level of legal protection against its infringement.

A trademark is typically denoted with a ™ symbol, which entrepreneurs can use freely to communicate their intention to use a given trademark in commerce. As a result, the ™ symbol is typically used for trademarks that have not been registered yet and are typically undergoing the registration process at the given point in time.

Registered trademarks use the ® symbol. This symbol can only be used after the registration process has been completed.

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