The ® symbol and the © symbol protect different things and follow different rules. The difference between the ® and © symbols comes down to this: ® marks a brand identifier — a name, logo, or slogan — that has been federally registered as a trademark with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, while © marks a creative work protected by copyright. You can only use ® after the USPTO grants your registration. You can use © the moment you write, record, or otherwise fix an original work in tangible form.
What the ® Symbol Protects
The ® is a badge of origin. It tells consumers that a specific brand identifier belongs to a particular company and that the federal government has confirmed the mark through registration. Only marks that have completed the full USPTO registration process and received a certificate of registration may carry it.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 U.S.C. 1111 – Notice of Registration; Display With Mark; Recovery of Profits and Damages in Infringement Suit
Federal registration does more than authorize the symbol. It gives the trademark owner nationwide priority dating back to the application filing date, the ability to bring infringement claims in federal court, and access to enhanced remedies like treble damages for counterfeiting. A mark that exists only through use in commerce, without federal registration, is limited to the geographic area where the owner actually does business.
What the © Symbol Protects
The © signals that a creative work is protected by copyright. Copyright protection is automatic the moment you fix an original work in a tangible form. You don’t need to register with the Copyright Office or even display the © notice to own the copyright.2U.S. Copyright Office. Copyright in General
Copyright covers a wide range of creative output: novels, poems, software code, photographs, paintings, movies, songs, and architectural designs. It does not cover ideas, facts, titles, or short phrases. Those either fall under trademark law or aren’t protectable at all — which is one reason brand names ride under ® or ™ and never under ©.
The ™ and ℠ Symbols Fill the Gap
If you’re using a brand name or logo but haven’t yet completed federal registration, you can still stake a claim by using ™ for goods or ℠ for services. Neither requires any government filing, and neither carries the legal weight of ®. They put the public on notice that you consider the mark to be your trademark. Once your USPTO registration is granted, you switch to ®. Using ™ while your application is pending is fine; using ® during that window is not.
What Goes Wrong If You Use ® Too Early
Federal law reserves ® for marks that have completed registration. The statute defines the authorized user as “a registrant of a mark registered in the Patent and Trademark Office.”1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 U.S.C. 1111 – Notice of Registration; Display With Mark; Recovery of Profits and Damages in Infringement Suit A filing receipt, a serial number, or an examiner’s preliminary approval doesn’t qualify. You need the actual certificate.
Misuse creates two problems. First, if you display ® on an unregistered mark and later sue for infringement, a court can deny damages because the defendant had no actual notice of a valid registration. Second, deliberately using ® to deceive the public or the USPTO can be treated as fraud, which can lead to cancellation of a pending application and civil liability for damages.3Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 U.S.C. 1120 – Civil Liability for False or Fraudulent Registration
The reverse also matters. If you own a valid registration but fail to display ®, you limit your ability to recover profits and damages in an infringement suit unless you can prove the infringer had actual knowledge of your registration.
What Goes Wrong If You Skip ©
Because copyright exists without a notice, skipping © doesn’t cost you the copyright itself. But a proper notice cuts off an infringer’s most common defense. The notice has three parts: the © symbol (or the word “Copyright” or “Copr.”), the year of first publication, and the name of the copyright owner. Example: © 2026 Jane Smith.4Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 17 U.S.C. 401 – Notice of Copyright: Visually Perceptible Copies
If someone infringes your work and you had a proper notice on the copies they accessed, they cannot argue “innocent infringement” to reduce the damages they owe. Without a notice, that defense stays on the table.
The notice must be legible under normal conditions and not hidden. On a book, that’s usually the title page or the page immediately behind it. On a website, the footer. On software, a splash screen or “About” dialog.
Registration for Each Symbol
Registration works very differently for the two symbols, and the differences matter before you file.
Trademark Registration
Filing a federal trademark application with the USPTO costs $350 per class of goods or services electronically, or $850 per class on paper.5United States Patent and Trademark Office. USPTO Fee Schedule Attorney fees for preparing and filing typically add $500 to $3,000. The average time from filing to either registration or abandonment is about 10.1 months, based on USPTO data updated in early 2026.6United States Patent and Trademark Office. Trademark Processing Wait Times Office actions and third-party oppositions can stretch that timeline further.
Copyright Registration
Copyright registration is cheaper and faster. A single-author electronic filing costs $45. A standard application is $65 online. Paper filings run $125.7U.S. Copyright Office. Fees
Even though © attaches automatically, registration unlocks rights that the symbol alone doesn’t provide. You cannot file a federal copyright infringement lawsuit on a U.S. work until you’ve registered or applied to register.8Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 17 U.S.C. 411 – Registration and Civil Infringement Actions And if you register before infringement begins, or within three months of first publishing the work, you become eligible for statutory damages of $750 to $30,000 per work infringed, plus attorney’s fees — and up to $150,000 per work for willful infringement.9Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 17 U.S.C. 504 – Remedies for Infringement: Damages and Profits Miss that window and you’re limited to proving actual financial losses.10Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 17 U.S.C. 412 – Registration as Prerequisite to Certain Remedies for Infringement
Keeping the Rights Alive
Copyright requires no maintenance filings after registration. Once registered, the protection lasts its full statutory term with no renewal fees or declarations.
Trademarks are different. Federal registration comes with ongoing obligations:
- A Section 8 declaration confirming continued use of the mark, filed between the fifth and sixth anniversaries of registration, with a specimen and a fee.
- A Section 9 renewal application, filed between the ninth and tenth anniversaries, and every ten years after that.
Miss these deadlines and the registration is canceled, which means the legal right to display ® goes with it, along with the nationwide priority that came with registration.11United States Patent and Trademark Office. Registration Maintenance/Renewal/Correction Forms
Typing the Symbols
On Windows, hold Alt and type 0174 on the numeric keypad for ®, or Alt plus 0169 for ©. On a Mac, press Option+R for ® or Option+G for ©. In HTML, use ® for ® and © for ©. Placement conventions differ: ® typically appears as a superscript right after the brand name on the first or most prominent use, while © sits at the start of a notice line that includes the year and owner name.