Common questions include whether oneย may use a certain mark and whether oneย needs to submit an application to acquire a trademark. One source of misunderstanding is the TM and R characters, what they symbolize, and why and when oneย should employ them.ย
Key Takeaways
- The trademark symbol (โข) indicates that a brand, logo, or product name is claimed as a trademark. Still, it may not be registered with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). At the same time, the registered trademark symbol (ยฎ) signifies that the mark has been officially registered with the USPTO.
- Using the โข symbol can provide some legal protection against infringement, but the ยฎ symbol offers more robust protection, including the ability to sue for damages and enforce rights in federal court.
- To use the โยฎโ symbol, a trademark must first be registered with the USPTO. This process involves a comprehensive search, application, and review to ensure the markโs uniqueness and eligibility for registration.
TM vs R
TM (Text Mining) is a package in the R programming language that provides a suite of text mining and natural language processing tools. R is a general-purpose programming language that is widely used for statistical computing and data analysis. TM is a package in the R programming language.

TM is an abbreviated form for a trademark that businesses frequently utilize on a brand, name, term, phrase, or layout that characterizes the company. The emblem can be used on any mark that oneโs firm employs without registering it.
R symbols symbolize people and corporations with a comprehensive legal binding on the business, including its name and other elements that the owners solely own. To obtain an R sign, one must register under the Trademarks Act.
Comparison Table
Parameters of Comparison | TM | R |
---|---|---|
Full form | Trademark | Registered trademark |
Utilization | Used to market things after they have filed for trademark registration. | Denotes that the brand is registered and legally protected. |
Legal Aspects Involved | It has no legal bearing or backing | Protected under the law and punishable if copied |
The goal of branding | To identify the distinctive industries, associations, or userโs brand | To market your service or product and use your copyrights to build great brand equity. ย |
Allowed period to use the symbol | One may use this sign after filing a trademark application | One may use this sign if the trademark is registered. ย |
What is TM?
A trademark is a term, logo, or symbol that differentiates one brand or product from another. It could also be used to indicate anything that is unique to a person or item in a more metaphorical sense, such as โthe musicianโs trademark beat.โ
That small floating emblem may be found almost anywhere, from grocery store aisles to TV episodes to humorous Instagram posts. In business, itโs used to convey that the individual who created and is promoting a product or good believes itโs unique from others.
The use of the trademark superscript might indicate that the claiming business is in the process of applying for a legally registered trademark (more on that in a bit).
It might also imply that the individual using it believes the unregistered goods are one-of-a-kind. Even items that have been denied government registration as a registered trademark may continue to utilize the TM sign.
What is R?
The Rย symbol on a product indicates that it is a registered trademark, which implies that the brand name or logo is constitutionally protected by (officially registered with), whereas plain old TM emblems have no legal support.ย
It is only available to those who have formally registered and been accepted. Furthermore, a strong registered brand may serve as a bridge between the customer and the product by assuring long-term loyalty and affiliation with the firm.
Before seeking to register a trademark, a company or individual should do a search on the intellectual property website from variousย directions for possible combinations of comparable marks.
If comparable marks are discovered, they must examine the description to see if the mark represents the same set of products or services they have suggested. Otherwise, duplicating a registered trademarked name may result in trademark infringement proceedings.
Most word processors merely ask you to type (R) to type the sign, and the application will generally turn it to ยฎ automatically.

Main Differences Between TM and R
- While waiting for the operation to complete, the TM symbol is commonly used to identify the distinctive industries, associations, or usersโ brands. Using the R symbol to market your service or product might give you the confidence to use your copyrights to build great brand equity.
- The client can begin utilising the TM sign after filing a trademark application with the Trademark office. Meanwhile, an applicant may use the R sign if the trademark is registered.

- https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/002224298605000106
- https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/002224299105500305
Chara Yadav holds MBA in Finance. Her goal is to simplify finance-related topics. She has worked in finance for about 25 years. She has held multiple finance and banking classes for business schools and communities. Read more at her bio page.