What’s the difference between ™ and ®?

The UK’s trademark regulations follow those of other EU nations. Strong preference is given to registering a trademark in the UK, although an unregistered trademark that has been in use for a long time and accrued its own goodwill is considered. Trademark laws in the UK are governed by several laws, such as the Trademarks Act of 1994, the Trademark Rules of 2008, and the EU Trademark Regulations. Additionally, multiple trademark conventions are available.

Getting a trademark registered in the UK

There are three ways to receive registered trademark protection in the UK:

1. An application for a UK trademark registration submitted to the UKIPO.
2. A request for an EU trademark registration submitted to the EUIPO; and
3. A WIPO application to obtain an international registration naming either the UK or the EU was submitted.

According to the laws in the UK, the symbol ® can only be used after the logo or the mark of the company if the company has a fully registered trademark with the registration certificate along with the number of the registration. After registration, the company can simply use the ® symbol without any threat of third parties using it or abusing it. The UKIPO, which is the UK Intellectual Property Office, will consist of the record of the trademark of the company and declaring that the company is registered. People presume the symbols ™ and ® are compatible or the same, however, these symbols transmit very distinct meanings.

In the nutshell, for the registered trademarks, the symbol ® is used for the word, phrase, logo, service or product, but the company itself has to be registered to use the symbol ® on the other hand, if we talk about the symbol ™ it has been used for the identification of a particular company, association, business or also an individual, which means the product of that company has the pending registration. Therefore, the pending registration symbol ® cannot be used.