Proper Use of Trademarks

Home

Follow the basic rules below for properly using trademarks to avoid losing rights. For each illustration in the table below, “MARK” designates the trademark / service mark.

The Rule	Wrong	Right
Use as an adjective modifying a generic noun	[Goods] of MARK are	MARK [goods] are
Do not use in possessive	MARK’s [goods]	The MARK [goods]
Do not use in plural	The MARKs	The MARK [goods]
Do not use as a noun	MARK is	MARK [goods] are
Always capitalize, italicize, or otherwise distinguish the mark in text	mark [goods]	MARK [goods] or Mark [goods]
Do not capitalize the generic name or first letter of product	Mark Goods	MARK goods
Do not use a trademark to describe the products of others	XYZ’s MARK [goods]	MARK’s [goods]

Trademark Notice

Trademark notice need be made only once, in the first instance of trademark use, in any single publication.

If a product catalog is collated and assembled from individual product specifications and there are data pages that may be individually used outside of the catalog, each data page should include a trademark notice.

Proper trademark notice:

- Unregistered trademarks can be noticed with the symbol ^TM and unregistered service marks noticed with the symbol ^SM following the mark. Registered marks may also be noticed in this manner.

- Registered marks are preferably noticed with the symbol ® following the mark. Unregistered marks may NOT be noticed with the ® designation.

The following are examples of notices that should be provided somewhere, such as the last page, of a publication in which marks appear:

- For unregistered marks -- “MARK is a trademark of Trade Name, Inc. or its subsidiaries.”

- For registered marks -- “MARK is a registered trademark of Trade Name, Inc. or its subsidiaries.”