Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Trademarks

This guideline is a part of the English Wikipedia's Manual of Style. It is a generally accepted standard that editors should attempt to follow, though occasional exceptions may apply. Any substantive edit to this page should reflect consensus. When in doubt, discuss first on the talk page.

Shortcuts WP:MOSTM MOS:TM MOS:BRAND

This page in a nutshell: Follow standard English text formatting and capitalization rules, regardless of the preference of trademark owners.

Trademarks include words and short phrases used by legal entities to identify themselves and their products and services. Often, these names are written in several ways with variations in capitalization, punctuation, and formatting. The advice in this page also applies to names and phrases used to identify movements, groups, forums, projects, events, and other non-commercial entities and their output.^[a] This guideline (in its entirety) applies to all trademarks, service marks, wordmarks, trade names, and all other names of businesses and similar entities, and products and services thereof.

When deciding how to format a trademark, editors should examine styles already in use by independent reliable sources. From among those, choose the style that most closely resembles standard English – regardless of the preference of the trademark owner. Exceptions may apply, but Wikipedia relies on sources to determine when an unusual name format has become conventional for a particular trademark; only names that are consistently styled a particular way by a substantial majority of independent, reliable sources are styled that way in Wikipedia. Do not invent new styles that are not used by independent reliable sources.

These practices help ensure consistency in language and avoid drawing undue attention to some subjects rather than others. Listed below are more specific recommendations for frequently occurring nonstandard formats.
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