Registration symbol

Using it before registration is improper and can be held against you. Before registration, TM for goods or SM for services signals a claim of rights without asserting a registration you do not have.

A small symbol with real legal weight. Used correctly it puts the world on notice and strengthens what you can recover from an infringer. Used before your registration issues, it is improper, and an opponent will raise it - it has been treated as evidence of bad faith in disputes.

1. Use TM for goods or SM for services while the application is pending. Both are free to use and claim nothing you do not have.
2. Switch to the R symbol only once the registration certificate has actually issued, not when the mark is approved or published.
3. Use it only for the goods and services the registration covers. A registration in one class does not license the symbol across your whole catalogue.
4. Sweep your own channels when registration issues: packaging, website, marketplace listings and social profiles usually all need updating.

A founder adds the R symbol the week the mark publishes for opposition, months before registration. An opposing party raises it as improper use. Nothing about the underlying brand was wrong - the symbol was simply used too early.