4 ms·

™ stands for Trademark Pending ® stands for Registered Trademark Absolutely anyone can create a term and put ™ after it (even if they never actually go throug

• lwf 11y ago
  In the United States at least, ™ doesn't mean "pending" per se — you can use ™ even when you have a registered mark, and marks do not need* to be registered to be valid: > Is registration of my mark required? > No. You can establish rights in a mark based on legitimate use of the mark. http://www.uspto.gov/trademarks/basics/register.jsp http://www.uspto.gov/trademarks/basics/register.jsp *: Some countries operate under a first-to-file system, and unregistered trademarks may be at risk even for US-based businesses that operate internationally. (I am not a laywer and this is not legal advice.)