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Subject:Summary: When to use (R) and (TM) From:Tracy Boyington <tracy_boyington -at- OKVOTECH -dot- ORG> Date:Thu, 13 Aug 1998 08:12:14 -0500
Thanks to all who provided responses. Here's the summary:
About a third said they wouldn't even bother to use (R) or (TM),
suggesting that I add a line somewhere stating that all trademarks are
the property of their registered owners. I decided to err on the side of
caution and use the marks because of the way I am using the product
names. For example, I am not using "Ensure brand nutritional
supplement," I am using "Ensure." From what I understand, that's a
little too close to treating a brand name as a generic.
Several others pointed out the difference between trademarks and
registered trademarks -- while all (R)s are (TM)s, not all (TM)s are
(R)s. Because of this, some people said it would always be safer to use
(TM), and others said it would always be safer to use (R). So I decided
it would be safest to find out what the actual product uses. :-)
As for finding out who needs (R) and who needs (TM), a few people
suggested I call the company, which I was unable to do because I only
had the product names and didn't even know which company made them. I
ended up taking the advice of those who suggested searching the web.
Interestingly enough, not a single product (which included not only
heavily-advertised products like Ensure, but also old standards such as
Fleet enemas) had a website -- at least not one that was easily found.
Luckily I found a few vendor websites that included the necessary info.
Actually, the search for Fleet enema turned up more... um...
entertainment sites than medically-related sites. ;-)
So, thanks to all, and as a way of giving back to the community, I have
the answer to the one-space or two-space question... one and a half
spaces. Let's make it a standard. :-)
