Two small symbols that look almost identical and mean entirely different things. Using the wrong one in Ukraine is not merely untidy — it can be treated as misleading the public.

™ — available immediately

™ has nothing to do with official registration. It is a way of saying that the user regards the sign as its own. It carries no independent legal force in Ukraine, but it is an accepted signal to the market.

There is a sensible moment to start using it: from the filing date. Rights in a Ukrainian trademark run from the date the application is filed, so that is when it becomes appropriate to place ™ next to the name, on packaging and on the website.

What ™ does not do is guarantee that the mark will be registered. It signals that an application is pending. If registration is ultimately refused, the symbol simply stops being used.

® — only once the certificate is in hand

® is a specific legal statement: this mark is registered and there is a certificate. Using it on a sign that is not registered misleads the public about the scope of the rights claimed, and in Ukraine that can itself be treated as an infringement of consumer protection rules.

There is also a geographical point that is easy to overlook: ® is country-specific. A Ukrainian registration does not entitle the holder to use ® on packaging sold in the EU or the United States, and a US registration does not authorise it in Ukraine.

For products distributed across several markets this matters in practice — the same packaging may be correct in one jurisdiction and misleading in another.

Short version

• application filed, examination pending — use ™;
• certificate issued — ® may be used, in the country where the registration exists;
• no application at all — ™ is technically possible in many jurisdictions, ® is not, in any circumstances.

A note for multi-jurisdiction packaging

Where packaging is produced centrally for several markets, the practical solutions are either to use ™ throughout, or to qualify the symbol with a footnote identifying the countries of registration. Both are accepted in Ukraine.

Working with us

We advise foreign holders on the correct use of notice symbols in Ukraine, and handle filings, oppositions and enforcement. More on how we work with IP firms.