The symbol can be used to indicate a claim of trademark rights, registered or not. The should only be used where a trademark is registered. Trade names are different from trademarks. For example, International Business Machines Corporation is a trade name, and IBM is a trademark. There can be overlap between trade names and trademarks, as many businesses use part of their company name to identify their products.
Domain names are one of the best known and most disputed elements of the internet landscape.
They are not in and of themselves trademarks, though if they are used to identify particular products or services, they can become trademarks. A marketer's dream, a good domain name has given businesses the ability to give both their name and address in one short, easy to remember phrase. Most of the domain name disputes have arisen because unauthorized persons, known as cybersquatters, or domain name pirates, have obtained registrations of domain names that incorporate the trade marks and trade names of well known businesses. This led to widely publicized reports of cyber squatting or domain name piracy in the last several years, as many people registered hundreds or thousands of domain names with the hope of reselling those names to the highest bidder. There are many other examples of abuse, such as companies registering their competitor's names as their own domain name, thereby preventing their competitors from having it, and directing the competitor's potential clients to their own business.