What is a trademark? What am I protected from by it?

A trademark is a mark or logo used by an entity in the course of business to identify his particular goods or services as distinct from other traders' goods. It must be represented graphically in the form of a character, term, signature, stamp, number, device brand, tag, colour packaging or a combination of all as stated.

^‘TM’ signals that something is being declared by a company as trademarked. It is usually used to signify common law rights in a trademark. However, this symbol doesn’t represent a formal, government-approved trademark registration. Hence, the claim remains largely unenforceable.

‘®’ signals that the trademark has been formally recognised by the government and no other entities or companies will be able to replicate or reproduce a similar item for as long as the trademark remains active.