Trademark symbol: copy ™, ® and ℠
Click a symbol to copy it. Below that, type your brand name to see it with the symbol, and answer three questions to find out which symbol your brand may use today.
Verified September 30, 2026
™
Trademark symbol
Any brand name or logo you use on products. No filing needed.
U+2122 · ™
®
Registered trademark symbol
Only once the USPTO has registered the mark, on the goods and services listed.
U+00AE · ®
℠
Service mark symbol
A brand name for a service rather than a product. No filing needed.
U+2120 · ℠
Which symbol can you use?
Your symbol
™
Use ™ on your products. You may use it from the first day you sell under the name, with no filing.
The ® is not yours to use until the USPTO registers the mark.
Preview
Your brand™
How to type each symbol
Your device is marked when this page can tell which one it is.
Mac
- ™
- Option + 2
- ®
- Option + R
- ℠
- Character Viewer: Control + Command + Space, search “service mark”
Windows
- ™
- Alt + 0153 on the number pad
- ®
- Alt + 0174 on the number pad
- ℠
- Copy it from this page
Microsoft Word for Windows
- ™
- Ctrl + Alt + T
- ®
- Ctrl + Alt + R
- ℠
- Type 2120, then Alt + X
Google Docs
- ™
- Insert, Symbols, Special characters, search 2122
- ®
- Insert, Symbols, Special characters, search 00AE
- ℠
- Insert, Symbols, Special characters, search 2120
iPhone and iPad
- ™
- Set a text replacement
- ®
- Set a text replacement
- ℠
- Set a text replacement
Android
- ™
- Copy it from this page
- ®
- Copy it from this page
- ℠
- Copy it from this page
Linux (GNOME)
- ™
- Ctrl + Shift + U, 2122, Enter
- ®
- Ctrl + Shift + U, 00ae, Enter
- ℠
- Ctrl + Shift + U, 2120, Enter
HTML
- ™
- ™
- ®
- ®
- ℠
- ℠
™ or ®: which trademark symbol to use
™ and ℠ are claims. They tell a buyer and a competitor that you treat the name as your brand, and nobody has to approve them. You can put ™ on a product name the first day you sell it.
® is a notice, and the law says who may give it. Section 29 of the Lanham Act lets the owner of a registered mark display the ®, or the words "Registered in U.S. Patent and Trademark Office" or "Reg. U.S. Pat. & Tm. Off."3 The USPTO's examining manual sets the limits: the registration symbol "may not be used with marks that are not actually registered in the USPTO. Even if an application is pending, the registration symbol may not be used until the mark is registered." A state registration does not earn it either.4
First use
™ on goods, ℠ on services
Application filed
Still ™ or ℠
Registered
® on the goods and services listed
Filing changes nothing about the symbol. The registration certificate does.
The ® also depends on the list. The USPTO puts it plainly: you may only use the registration symbol for the goods or services listed in the registration.5 If your mark is registered for candles and you start selling soap under it, the soap gets ™ until a registration covers soap too. The trademark class finder shows which class a new product falls in.
The ® also has to stay true. A registration that lapses because a maintenance filing was missed is cancelled, the mark is no longer registered, and the ® comes off with it. The renewal calculator gives every deadline from your registration date.
What the registered symbol does for you
The ® protects your claim to money from a copycat. The same section says that without the notice, a registrant may not recover profits or damages in an infringement suit unless the other side had actual notice of the registration.3 A brand that is registered and leaves the ® off its packaging gives that away.
Using it too early costs something too. The USPTO's manual says improper use of the ® that is "deliberate and intended to deceive or mislead the public is fraud", while noting that honest misunderstandings are far more common than fraud.4 When you write a cease and desist letter, a false ® on your own product hands the other side something to point at.
Placement is loose. The USPTO says the registration symbol may go anywhere around the trademark, and that most owners put it in superscript or subscript to the right.5 The preview above uses superscript.
How the check decides
The check applies the US rules above and nothing else. It gives ® only when all three are true: the USPTO registered the mark, the registration is still live, and the product or service you are marking is in it. Every other answer gets ™ for products or ℠ for services.
| Your answer | Symbol |
|---|---|
| Not filed anywhere | ™ or ℠ |
| USPTO application pending | ™ or ℠ |
| Registered with a state only | ™ or ℠ |
| USPTO registration cancelled or expired | ™ or ℠ |
| Registered, product or service not in the registration | ™ or ℠ on that product |
| Registered, not sure what it lists | ™ or ℠ until you have looked it up |
| Registered, product or service listed | ® |
It does not cover other countries, where the rules for the ® differ. Everything runs in your browser, and the name you type is not sent anywhere.
A worked example
A candle brand filed with the USPTO in March and is still waiting. It answers "I applied to the USPTO" and "Products", and gets ™. Eleven months later the registration issues for candles in class 4. It changes its answer to "Registered" and "Yes, listed", and gets ®, so the labels switch to the ® at the next print run. When it adds a room spray, the spray is not in the class 4 registration, so the spray label carries ™ until a second registration covers it. How long the wait for registration runs and what the filing costs are on their own pages.
Once a name is yours, somebody will use it. What an unregistered name protects covers the rights you hold before the certificate, and trademark monitoring covers watching for a lookalike filing.
Sources and dates
Every source below was read September 30, 2026, and quotations are verbatim.
- 1. Character codes. The Unicode Character Database for U+2122 TRADE MARK SIGN, U+00AE REGISTERED SIGN and U+2120 SERVICE MARK, and the HTML named character list, which has ™ and ® and no name for ℠. ↩
- 2. Keyboard shortcuts. Microsoft's Windows keyboard tips for the Alt codes; Microsoft's Word shortcuts for Ctrl + Alt + T, Ctrl + Alt + R, Alt + X and the Mac Option keys, which Knockoff also typed on a Mac with the US layout; Apple's Mac shortcuts for the Character Viewer and Apple's iPhone guide for text replacement; Google Docs Editors Help for special characters; and GNOME Help for Ctrl + Shift + U. ↩
- 3. The notice statute. 15 U.S.C. 1111, section 29 of the Lanham Act, for the three forms of notice and the rule on profits and damages without it. ↩
- 4. The USPTO examining manual. TMEP, May 2026 edition, section 906 for ™ and ℠ "regardless of whether a mark is registered", the pending-application rule and state registrations, and 906.02 and 906.04 for improper use and fraud. ↩
- 5. USPTO trademark basics. What is a trademark, the section on using the TM, SM and ® symbols, for the listed goods and services and for placement. ↩
Knockoff is not a law firm and this is general information, not legal advice.
Questions about the trademark symbol
Can I use the ™ symbol without registering my trademark?
+
Yes. ™ and ℠ need no filing and no application. They tell the market you claim the name as a brand. The USPTO's examining manual says a party may use them regardless of whether a mark is registered.
When can I use the ® symbol?
+
Only after the USPTO registers the mark, and only on the goods and services the registration lists. A pending application does not count, a state registration does not count, and a registration that was cancelled or expired stops counting.
Is it illegal to use ® if my trademark is not registered?
+
It is improper use of the federal registration notice. The USPTO's examining manual calls it fraud when it is deliberate and meant to deceive, and says honest mistakes are far more common, such as believing a pending application or a state registration is enough. Switch to ™ until the registration issues.
What is the difference between ™ and ℠?
+
™ goes on a brand for products, ℠ on a brand for services such as a repair shop, an agency or a subscription service. Neither needs registration. A brand that sells both can use each where it fits.
How do I type the trademark symbol on a Mac?
+
Option + 2 types ™ and Option + R types ® on the standard US keyboard layout. There is no default key for ℠; open the Character Viewer with Control + Command + Space and search for service mark.
How do I type the trademark symbol on Windows?
+
Hold Alt and type 0153 on the number pad for ™, or 0174 for ®, with Num Lock on. The number row above the letters does not work for this. In Microsoft Word, Ctrl + Alt + T types ™ and Ctrl + Alt + R types ®.
Where does the trademark symbol go?
+
Next to the mark. The USPTO says the registration symbol may go anywhere around the trademark, and that most owners put it in superscript or subscript to the right of it. The same habit works for ™ and ℠.
Do I have to use the ® at all?
+
No, it is optional. It matters for money: without the ® or one of the two written forms, a registrant may not recover profits or damages from an infringer unless that infringer had actual notice of the registration.
A registered name is the one a marketplace will act on when somebody sells under it. Knockoff watches your Shopify catalog across the marketplaces and the open web and files a takedown on each confirmed copy. Scan your store for stolen photos.