Trade Mark Sign
Block: Letterlike Symbols
- Symbol
- ™
- Unicode
U+2122- Unicode name
- TRADE MARK SIGN
- Block
- Letterlike Symbols
- Category
- Symbol, Other
- Type
- Unicode symbol
The trade mark sign ™ is U+2122. It is a dedicated Unicode character that visually represents a raised “TM.” It is different from the registered sign ® and from typing the two ordinary letters T and M.
What the ™ Character Represents in Text
U+2122 is the Unicode TRADE MARK SIGN. It packages the familiar raised TM form into one character, which lets plain text preserve the sign without relying on superscript styling applied to two separate letters.
That encoding distinction matters when copying, searching, or comparing text. The appearance “TM” can be produced in more than one way, but a single ™ character has one code point and can be identified unambiguously as U+2122.
If your character differs from this one, try what does ™ mean? to find the exact mark from pasted text, Unicode, or visual clues.
Code-Point and UTF-8 Forms for ™
The encoded identity can be represented without relying on the glyph. U+2122 = decimal 8482 = HTML ™ / ™. A Unicode escape-style representation is u2122. The UTF-8 byte sequence for the current glyph is E2 84 A2.
These forms are useful when a font does not display the symbol clearly, when debugging copied text, or when comparing characters that look alike. Numeric references and escapes identify the underlying code point or sequence rather than a particular font drawing.
A Single ™ Character Is Not the Same Text as Superscript TM
A designer can create a similar appearance by typing TM and applying superscript styling, but the resulting text still contains two Latin letters. U+2122 instead stores the trade mark sign as one character.
The two approaches can differ in search, copy-and-paste, accessibility output, and styling behavior. Inspecting the code point tells you whether the source actually contains the Unicode trade mark sign or merely styled letters.
™ and ® Are Different Symbols
The trade mark sign ™ and registered sign ® are separate Unicode characters with different names and conventional uses. Unicode also cross-references related trademark-style signs, including the service mark ℠.
From a character-identification perspective, the key point is not to infer one symbol from another because they appear near brand names. If the glyph is ™, the code point is U+2122; if the glyph is ®, the code point is U+00AE.