What's the difference between an (R) sign and a (TM) [Restricted v. TradeMark]?

Question

I know they mean respectively restricted and trade marked, but what's the distinction between the two? Thanks!

Answer 1

A (R) means "registered", not restricted.  It means a trademark has received registeration with the state and/or federal government.  

A "TM" doesn't necessarily have to be registered.  It is normally used while a word or phrase is in the "process" of being registered, or to simply protect a word or phrase as being first to use.

Trademarks (TM) and Service Marks (SM) are treated the same (as above), while Registered Trademarks (R) and Copyrights (C) are registered with the state and/or federal government.

Hope this helps.

Answer 2

In this comparison the R likely means registered (not restricted).  And the (R) means that the (T) trademark is registered - you can have an unregistered trademark too.