Trademarks

[Lithic]

I was browsing on download sites and found that many small, pretty much single-function freeware or shareware programs had "TM" after the name, suggesting the name had been registered as a trademark.

Surely this isnt the case? Im not from the US (where I expect most of these programs are being developed) - is it inexpensive to trademark something over there? And surely common words like 'Glimpse' etc.. cannot be trademarked? Could it be that the people making these programs are putting TM after the name without actually registering a trademark??

Cheers,
Lithic.

[Lithic]

Dont worry, looked it up myself. Looks like anyone can use TM...

Fromthe USPTO:

Any time you claim rights in a mark, you may use the "TM" (trademark) or "SM" (service mark) designation to alert the public to your claim, regardless of whether you have filed an application with the USPTO.

[Brad Jones]

Once you register the mark, you would switch from TM to a registered trademark (which is an 'R' in a circle).