Copyright, Trademark & Legal Symbols

A handful of Unicode symbols carry enormous legal weight. The copyright sign, trademark symbol, registered mark, and section sign appear in contracts, legislation, product labels, and web footers around the world. Getting these symbols right is not just a typographic concern — using the wrong character (or failing to use one at all) can have legal implications for intellectual property protection and regulatory compliance. This guide covers every legal symbol in Unicode, explains their proper usage, and provides the technical details developers need to display them correctly.

Quick Copy-Paste Table

Copyright Sign: © (U+00A9)

The copyright symbol is one of the most recognized legal symbols in the world. Under the Berne Convention (adopted by 181 countries), copyright protection is automatic upon creation of an original work — you do not need to display © to have copyright protection. However, the symbol serves several practical purposes:

• Notice to the public that the work is protected
• Identification of the copyright holder
• Date establishment of first publication

Proper Copyright Notice Format

The standard copyright notice format is:

© [Year of first publication] [Copyright owner name]

Examples:

© 2026 Acme Corporation
© 2020-2026 Jane Smith

Encoding and Input

Copyright vs (c)

Many people type (c) as a substitute for ©. Some word processors and rich-text editors auto-correct (c) to ©, but in plain text, HTML, and code, you should use the actual Unicode character. The ASCII approximation (c) has no legal standing as a copyright notice in many jurisdictions.

<!-- Correct -->
<footer>&copy; 2026 Example Corp. All rights reserved.</footer>

<!-- Avoid in published text -->
<footer>(c) 2026 Example Corp. All rights reserved.</footer>

Registered Sign: ® (U+00AE)

The registered trademark symbol ® indicates that a word, phrase, logo, or symbol has been officially registered with a government trademark office (such as the USPTO in the United States or the EUIPO in the European Union). Using ® for an unregistered mark is illegal in many jurisdictions.

Proper Usage

• Place ® immediately after the trademarked term with no space: Brand®
• In superscript: Brand<sup>&reg;</sup> renders as Brand^®
• Use only for marks that are actually registered

<p>Welcome to Acme&reg; — innovation since 1985.</p>

Trade Mark Sign: ™ (U+2122)

The trademark symbol ™ indicates that a word, phrase, or logo is being claimed as a trademark, regardless of whether it has been officially registered. Unlike ®, anyone can use ™ — it simply asserts a claim of trademark rights.

™ vs ®

The distinction between trademark (™) and service mark (℠) is that trademarks apply to goods (physical products) while service marks apply to services. In practice, ™ is used far more frequently, and many style guides recommend ™ for both.

<p>Acme CloudSync&trade; makes backup effortless.</p>

Sound Recording Copyright: ℗ (U+2117)

The sound recording copyright symbol ℗ (a P in a circle, for "phonogram") indicates copyright in a sound recording specifically, as distinct from the copyright in the underlying musical composition. A CD might display both:

• © for the composition, lyrics, and liner notes
• ℗ for the actual audio recording

℗ 2026 Universal Music Group
© 2026 Universal Music Publishing

This distinction matters because the recording and the composition often have different copyright holders and different terms of protection.

Section Sign: § (U+00A7)

The section sign (also called the "silcrow" or "double S") is used to reference specific sections of legal documents, statutes, and regulations. It is one of the most frequently used symbols in legal writing.

Usage Conventions

A thin space or non-breaking space should separate § from the number. In legal citation formats like Bluebook (used in US law), the section sign is mandatory:

<p>See 17 U.S.C.&nbsp;&sect;&nbsp;107 (fair use).</p>
<p>Under &sect;&sect;&nbsp;201&ndash;205 of the Act...</p>

Pilcrow: ¶ (U+00B6)

The pilcrow ¶ (paragraph sign) is the paragraph-level counterpart to §. In legal documents, it references specific paragraphs within a section:

See § 107, ¶ 3 (describing the four-factor test).

In word processors, ¶ is the "show formatting marks" symbol that reveals paragraph breaks, making it familiar to anyone who has toggled invisible characters in Microsoft Word or Google Docs.

Numero Sign: № (U+2116)

The numero sign is a ligature of N and o used as an abbreviation for "number" in many European languages. It is particularly common in Russian (No. in English = № in Russian), German, and French legal and business documents.

<p>Order &#x2116;&nbsp;12345</p>  <!-- Order № 12345 -->

While English-speaking countries typically write "No." or "#", the numero sign is the standard in much of continental Europe and is encoded as a single Unicode character rather than the two-character sequence "No".

Superscript Rendering

Legal symbols ® and ™ are often displayed in superscript for aesthetic reasons. There are two approaches:

<!-- HTML superscript -->
<p>Brand<sup>&reg;</sup> Product<sup>&trade;</sup></p>

<!-- CSS approach -->
<style>
.legal-mark { font-size: 0.6em; vertical-align: super; }
</style>
<p>Brand<span class="legal-mark">&reg;</span></p>

Note that © is typically rendered at full size (not superscripted) because it appears at the beginning of standalone copyright notices, not inline after brand names.

Legal Symbols in Code

When working with legal symbols in source code:

# Python string with legal symbols
copyright_notice = "\u00A9 2026 Example Corp"
trademark = "CloudSync\u2122"
registered = "Acme\u00AE"
section_ref = "\u00A7 107"

# JSON (must use Unicode escapes in strict JSON)
# {"copyright": "\u00A9 2026 Example Corp"}

print(f"{copyright_notice}")
print(f"Product: {registered} {trademark}")
print(f"See {section_ref} for details.")

Key Takeaways

• © (U+00A9) is the copyright sign — automatic under the Berne Convention, but still best practice to display. Use © in HTML, Option+G on macOS.
• ® (U+00AE) indicates a registered trademark — using it for unregistered marks is illegal in many jurisdictions.
• ™ (U+2122) claims trademark rights without registration; anyone can use it. ℠ (U+2120) is the service-mark equivalent.
• ℗ (U+2117) is specifically for sound recording copyright, distinct from © for compositions.
• § (U+00A7) is the section sign for legal citations; double it (§§) for ranges.
• Always use actual Unicode characters in published text rather than ASCII approximations like (c), (R), or (TM).