TM and R symbols in running text

[geoff-h -at- MTL -dot- FERIC -dot- CA]

 Nicole Canter wondered <<what writers usually do about
 trademark symbols in running text?>>

 I follow the standard practice that organisations with
 expensive lawyers to advise them on this issue do: ignore
 it almost completely. You'll have to look pretty hard to
 find an (R) or (TM) in running text in _PC Magazine_, for
 instance.

 There are really two important things to keep in mind.
 You're cheating (and risking annoying the trademark's
 owner) if:
 - your text makes it look like you're claiming someone
 else's product as your own, or
 - you convert a trademarked name into a noun or verb
 (trademarks can properly only be used as adjectives).
 In either case, you can expect a polite call from the
 owner's lawyers.

 If it's your own product, you're supposed to repeat the
 symbol on every mention, but few people actually do this;
 for example, my MS Word manual uses the style "Microsoft
 (R) Word", with no trademark on Word. Elsewhere in the
 manual, you won't find any (R) or (TM) next to the name
 "Word".

 In technical manuals etc., the standard workaround if you
 mention other people's products is to say "OurProduct(R) is
 a registered trademark of Us Inc.; all other product names
 are the trademarks of their respective owners." Microsoft
 commonly lists their own trademarks on the copyright page,
 then lists any other trademarks they can find on the same
 page and dispenses with the trademark symbols elswhere in
 the text.

 --Geoff Hart     @8^{)}     geoff-h -at- mtl -dot- feric -dot- ca
 Disclaimer: Speaking for myself, not FERIC.


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