You can use a registered trademark symbol as soon as you have officially registered your trademark with an appropriate government agency. Prior to this registration, you should use the unregistered trademark or service mark symbols, as this usage is often necessary to help demonstrate a trademark during registration. There is a great deal of information about a trademark you will need to provide when you register your mark, including evidence that demonstrates your established usage of the mark. This evidence should use the unregistered mark, which will help your trademark or service mark become registered and allow you to use the registered trademark symbol.
The registered trademark symbol, ®, is a symbol that indicates that a particular product or service in business is protected as a registered trademark. This symbol is used for both trademarks and service marks, though they have separate unregistered symbols. A trademark is a form of intellectual property that grants ownership over a particular logo, phrase, or other identifier that is going to be used in business to indicate a product offered by a particular company. Service marks are similar in nature, but are used to indicate a service offered by a company, and both types can be indicated with the same registered trademark symbol.
Prior to the official registration of a trademark or service mark, the registered trademark symbol should not be used, and use of it can potentially be grounds for legal action against a company by a government agency. This is because the registered trademark symbol is used to indicate that a trademark or service mark is protected by a particular government. Registration of a trademark is usually handled through a government agency such as the US Patent and Trademark Office or the Intellectual Property Office of the UK. This registration process often includes filing paperwork that demonstrates how the trademark or service mark is to be used, including examples of its use in an established way.
You should use the non-registered versions of these marks prior to your use of the registered trademark symbol. For trademarks, you should use the familiar TM or ™ symbol or SM for a service mark. This will demonstrate that you have begun to establish the logo or phrase you wish to use as a trademark or service mark to be identified with your business. Once your trademark or service mark registration is complete and accepted, then you can begin using the registered trademark symbol on your products and advertisements.