If you’re selling your goods or services under a brand name or symbol so that people can recognise that you’ve made it or you’re providing the services associated with it, then you’re using that as a trade mark, even if you haven’t registered it as such.
In addition, you might have unregistered trade mark protection for this name.
Unregistered trade marks can give you some rights to stop others using or registering the same or similar name. However, this can be much more time consuming and complex than if you had a registered trade mark for the name. Hence, it’s always best to register a trade mark to secure exclusive use of a name in your industry.
You can use the ™ symbol to emphasise that you’re using the name or symbol as a trade mark. But be careful not to use the ® symbol which is reserved solely for registered trade marks.