Common Intellectual Property Abbreviations and Symbols

Abbreviation or Symbol

Meaning

Indicates an invention protected by an issued United States patent. A proper patent notice contains one of these listed terms, followed by the patent number. Sometimes the letters “U.S.” are added before one of the terms, and sometimes the abbreviation “No.” or “Number” are used after one of the terms, but they are not required. The notice should appear either on the protected article or, if that is not possible, on a label affixed to it or to its packaging. For more information about patents, refer to:

An application has been filed seeking to protect some aspect of the marked invention. This designation does not mean a patent has issued. It may never issue.

Indicates a mark which has been registered with the United States Patent & Trademark Office. The owner of such a mark has greater protection than do owners of unregistered marks. For more information about trademarks, refer to: and our short article on appropriate trademark use: 

Stands for “service mark” and means that someone is claiming the adjacent word or symbol as their trademark to identify the services, such as restaurant services, which they are offering. Sometimes the letters are placed within a circle. This abbreviation or symbol does not mean the mark has been registered anywhere.

Stands for “trademark” and means that someone is claiming the adjacent word or symbol as their trademark. Sometimes the letters are placed within a circle. This abbreviation or symbol does not mean the mark has been registered anywhere.

Indicates that the work on which it appears is a creative work protected by copyright (but not necessarily registered). A proper copyright notice for protection not only in the U.S. but also most foreign nations contains the copyright symbol ©, followed by the name of the copyright owner and the date when the work was first published, for example: © Olive & Olive, P.A. 2006. Where the notation is to be used only in the U.S., one can use the word “Copyright” or the abbreviation “Copr.” instead of the symbol and, for certain works, can omit the date; copyrighted sound recordings should use the “P in a circle” symbol (see below). Often words such as “All rights reserved” are added to a copyright notice, but they have no particular legal status. For more information about copyrights and copyright notices, refer to

Stands for “phonorecord” (which includes not just records but also CDs, DVDs, MP3s and other recordings)—and means that the recording to which it is affixed is protected by copyright. (The “P” symbol refers to protection of the recorded sounds, as opposed to protection of the underlying words or musical work.) A proper copyright notice for protection of phonorecords contains the phonograph symbol, followed by the name of the copyright owner
and the date when the work was first published. [Note: the P symbol can be found in the webdings font on most computers.]

Indicates that the work on which it appears is a mask work (images of the pattern of material present or removed to form the layers on a semiconductor chip—i.e. the layout of the chip), or embodies a mask work, that is protected by the mask work provisions of the United States Copyright Act. A proper mask work notice consists of the term “Mask Work” or one of the mask work symbols, followed by the name of the owner of the mask work or an
abbreviation by which the owner is generally known or recognized. [Note: the M in a circle symbol is not available in normal fonts; graphic designs, or the simpler asterisk-M symbol, typically are used in typed or printed documents.] For more information about mask works, refer to: