Unregistered Mark

In many jurisdictions, unfair competition or passing off cases can be brought for the misuse of another vendor’s name or brand, even if it has not been registered as a trademark, provided the mark is well known and recognized. A mark which gives rise to such a right is known as an unregistered mark. Unregistered marks are usually designated using the symbol TM in raised superscript, i.e., Bubba™ or for services they can alternately use a raised SM, i.e., for service-mark. In most jurisdictions it is an offense to use the ® symbol which designates a registered mark on an unregistered mark.

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