Trademarks and registered trademarks - any experts?

Scam · 27 Mar 2006 at 14:40

I had a lecture about these a good while ago and got the impression that you were free to put TM on your logo/ident without needing to register with anyone. It states that you are using that name/ident to trade in that particular business sector. And that the (r) symbol means registered trademark, i.e. you have registered it.

Is this right? Or do you have to apply for a trademark to put TM on your ident as well? My classmate is putting doubts in my mind and i'm a bit worried now... lol

http://www.patent.gov.uk/tm/howtoapply/faq.htm

Am I breaking the law by using "TM" on my trade mark?
No, as this does not indicate that your trade mark is actually registered, only that it is being used in a trade mark sense. You would only be breaking the law (Section 95 of the Trade Marks Act 1994) if you used the registered symbol ® or the abbreviation "RTM".

wiki:

The ™ symbol may be used when trademark rights are claimed in relation to a mark, but the mark has not been registered with the government trade marks office of a particular country or jurisdiction, while the ® is used to indicate that the mark has been so registered. It is not mandatory to use either symbol, although the force of convention is such that the symbols are widely used around the world. However, it is generally unlawful to use the ® symbol with a mark when that mark is not registered.

Basher · 27 Mar 2006 at 14:44

Everything in your posts suggests to me that you're right, the government website backs you up as does wikipedia

Scam · 27 Mar 2006 at 14:56

Basher said:
Everything in your posts suggests to me that you're right, the government website backs you up as does wikipedia

Thats what i thought, however if you read the rest of the sites neither of them actually clearly say that you are free to use TM without registering :/

Berserker · 27 Mar 2006 at 15:37

Logic. If you had decided to register the trademark, then you'd obviously use ®.

Tunney · 27 Mar 2006 at 15:57

I had a lecture about these a good while ago and got the impression that you were free to put TM on your logo/ident without needing to register with anyone.

In England and Wales, TM stands for "totally meaningless".

You can use it freely but it doesn't stop others from using your trademark.

Scam · 27 Mar 2006 at 16:02

Tunney said:
In England and Wales, TM stands for "totally meaningless".

You can use it freely but it doesn't stop others from using your trademark.

I see. Well as i'm using it primarily to add a bit of professionalism to a University project, i'm happy with that.

Sirrel Squirrel · 27 Mar 2006 at 16:09

Can you freely use (c) too?

Scam · 27 Mar 2006 at 17:21

Sirrel Squirrel said:
Can you freely use (c) too?

As far as i know, yes. It's automatic on creation of original work.

sniffy · 27 Mar 2006 at 17:22

Sirrel Squirrel said:
Can you freely use (c) too?

You certainly can.

Sirrel Squirrel · 27 Mar 2006 at 17:37

Thanks I thought it was but just checking