What does the ® logo mean?

What does the ® logo mean?

The ®; symbol indicates that the trademark is registered and defined as such.
Registered trademark symbol - Wikipedia

Not to be confused with the ™; symbol, which is a non-registered trademark.
Trademark symbol - Wikipedia

So the ®; trumps the ™;.
Very often the latter is just for less urgent trademarks, because obtaining the ® costs a lot of research (and money). So the ™; means it's "up for registration" but the process is often not completed. Though by doing so, the owner can indicate that it's probably useless for others to try to obtain it.

Both symbols are common in the US, but have no legal meaning in the EU.


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