An easy way to think of a trademark is to think of them as adjectives, not as nouns. A key difference from distinguishing trademarks from copyrights is that copyrights apply to an individual work, such as a book or brochure.
Trademarks apply to a continuous or ongoing work, such as the name of a newspaper.
A service mark is a word, symbol, design, phrase, or combination of the following that identifies and distinguishes the source of a service. Service marks typically appear in advertising for the services that they protect. This symbol cannot be used before the mark is officially registered. This symbol can be used in place of TM or SM to identify owners' rights in the use of a mark. Registration is not necessary to claim rights in a mark, but doing so will give the register certain rights, such as a presumed ownership in the use of the mark and the right to use the mark throughout the United States.