Trademark Symbol- TM or @ - Why TM could be dangerous in Germany

The trademark symbol TM is typically used to indicate that you use a certain word or graphics is used as a trademark. Typically, it stands for a unregistered trademark. In the US, there is no need to have a trademark registered in order to use TM. As an example, I can use FREISCHEMTM to show that I use FREISCHEM as a trademark for my services. If you have a registered trademark, you can use B to show that you have a registered trademark for certain goods or services.

In some countries, like e.g. in Germany, use of TM can be dangerous without having a registered trademark. Regional Courts and Higher Regional Courts currently have dissenting opinions.

The Regional Court in Berlin decided that use of TM is not an anticompetitive deception, if you do not have a registered trademark (KG Berlin, Beschluss vom 31.05.2013, Az.: 5 W 114/13). The Regional Court in Essen has a similar opinion (LG Essen, 44 0 18/03). The Higher Regional Court in Cologne has decided that obviously foreign products can be marked with @, even if there is no registered trademark in Germany or the EU, because consumers would think that the trademark is protected in the country of origin (OLG Koln, 6 U 114/09).

However, the Regional Court in Munich I was of the opinion that consumers in Germany do not know thei practice in the US and the difference if TM and @ and will be deceived, if there is a TM used after a word without a registered trademark (LG Munchen I,1 HKO 1755/03).

So, better not use TM in Germany, if you do not have ai registered trademark in the EU or Germany. Another thing is @, which is used to indicate copyright, which does not really have anything to do with trademarks.