Every typeface contains a standard trademark symbol (™), a registered trademark symbol (®) and a copyright symbol (©). When you need these symbols, use them. Don’t use alphabetic approximations like “(TM)” or “(C)”.

Trademark symbols are meant to appear as superscripts (Eat More Coco-Nutties™). Copyright symbols are meant to appear in line with the text (© 2008 MegaCorp). Use a nonbreaking space between a copyright symbol and a year to make sure the symbol doesn’t get separated by a line break or page break.

Word has an AutoCorrect function that will automatically substitute a symbol when you type (TM), (R) or (C). It’s a wise idea to turn off this feature and insert the symbols manually when you need them. Otherwise, citations typed in as Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(c) will get converted to Fed. R. Civ. P. 12©. This error will not be detected by the spellchecker and is easy to overlook during the proofreading process.