(r) vs. (TM)

["Geoff Hart (by way of \"Eric J. Ray\" <ejray -at- raycomm -dot- com>)" <ght -at- MTL -dot- FERIC -dot- CA>]

Tracy Boyington wondered about the appropriate use of (R) and (TM) in
documentation. Which one to use depends entirely on the owner of the
trademark: (TM) represents a trademark that has not yet been
registered, but once registered, the trademark is forever after
indicated as (R). For the sake of accuracy, use whichever symbol is
used by the trademark owner, on the assumption that they know what
they're talking about; if you can't confirm which is the correct
symbol, and that should be a very rare situation indeed, use (R): my
logic is that nobody will yell at you for granting their product more
respect than it deserves, but they may well get irate if you portray a
registered trademark as unregistered. One caution: if _you_ are the
trademark holder, never use (R) until the trademark is legally
registered; doing so can apparently cause various legal problems,
though I can't remember details right now.

As for using the symbols in your own documentation when referring to
other people's products, don't waste your time: no major periodical
(computer magazines particularly) ever does, and since they've got
expensive lawyers advising them on this issue, I have to assume they
know what they're doing. Give credit to the trademark owner and the
type of trademark (TM vs. R) only once, in a special section at the
front of the book (usually, the copyright page), and thereafter just
use the unadorned product name. The only case where you might want to
repeat the symbol is if it might appear that you're claiming the
product as your own or trying to turn it into a generic term; if you
try that, the trademark owner will quite properly get all irate and
send you nasty letters, perhaps even threatening legal action.
--Geoff Hart @8^{)}
geoff-h -at- mtl -dot- feric -dot- ca

"Men are from Earth. Women are from Earth. Deal with it."--Author unknown


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