[WikiEN-l] Fighting over (R) and (tm) symbols

[Matt Brown]

On 8/30/06, Carl Peterson <carlopeterson at gmail.com> wrote:
> I thought that a basic rule of thumb was to use a trademark (r, tm, or
> p) symbol at the first usage of that word. However, in my experience, it is
> usually accompanied by a footnote specifying the owner of said trademarks,
> and, as you have stated, is not typically utilized in encyclopedic
> materials.

In my experience it is only done that way in commercial text.  This is
normally because either:

1. The commercial entity owns the trademark themselves
2. They are licensed by another entity to use those trademarks and
thus have to be as careful with them as the owner would (generally
contractually obligated, in fact)
3. They are taking great care to not appear as if they are claiming
the marks for themselves, which could be lawsuit-fodder.

-Matt