Patent and Trademark Notices

Posted Tuesday, March 04, 2008 by Jim Ruttler.

It is important to apply the correct notices to inventions, marks, and creative works of art. Notices ensure that the public is aware of your rights and that damages are available for infringement. The ‘patent pending’ or ‘patent no.’ notice may only be used if the invention that the notice is applied to is actually the subject of a pending patent application or an issued patent. With trademarks, there are two notices to be considered. The ‘TM’ notice may be used for a trademark at any time without any prior registration of the trademark. This notice indicates to the public that you consider the trademark to be valid and enforceable under common law trademark rights. The ‘R’ symbol may only be used if the trademark has been federally registered with the U.S. trademark office. Federal registration results in a presumption of validity and enforceability and nationwide priority, whereas common law trademarks do not.

Quick Links

  1. Patent Applications
  2. Basic Intellectual Property Law Principles

Blog Archive