Basically, a trademark is a sign, logo, or name used by individuals or businesses to signify their ownership of the goods and services they provide. The main function of the trademark is to allow consumers to know which companies or businesses take ownership of different products and services. For this reason, having a trademark is important for any business to protect their products and also attract more customers with the quality of goods and services they provide. But the question is, can you put ‘TM’ at the end of your logo just like that? Here’s what you need to know.
So, which one is legal to use without a permit? If you notice, the use of ‘TM’ and ‘R’ symbols at the end of a logo is commonly used when it comes to trademarks. The ‘R’ symbol signifies that the mark is already a registered trademark. That means it is protected by the trademark law and it would be illegal to put it at the end of a logo without proper registration. The ‘TM’ symbol, on the other hand, is used to show that the mark is already being used by the business as a trademark but is not officially registered yet. It could simply mean that the mark is still under the process of being registered as a trademark.
So to answer the question, yes, it is legal to use the ‘TM’ symbol without registering. It is the ‘R’ symbol that you cannot use. As long as you are sure that there are no companies that are already using the trademark, you should be able to put ‘TM’ on your mark.
Because it is legal to put ‘TM’ on your logo without a permit, you can claim that mark as soon as possible but you are not entirely protected under the law. That means that registering your trademark to have the ‘R’ symbol will simply be more advantageous as it will be recognized as an official mark.