Too many brands claim more trademark rights than are believable. I’m all for aggressively protecting legitimate rights in good brand names. But overreaching can damage a brand’s reputation, with nothing to gain from doing so.
As the photos below demonstrate, Sargento is using “TM” after “Colby-Jack” and “String Cheese”, terms which I am sure dozens of competitors use. There are not real trademark rights in these very common descriptive terms and using the TM on the packaging weakens my impression of any other claims that Sargento may legitimately make regarding other brands.
