My post today at Fiction+ (for The Chicago Manual of Style):
Short answer: Yes.
Now and then, a writer or editor asks our online Q&A whether mentioning a brand name in a work of fiction requires permission or the addition of the trademark (™) or registered (®) symbol.
Fortunately, in works published in the United States there’s no need to sidetrack readers with unsightly sentences like “Her iPhone® slipped from her fingers and into the lake.” Anyone who reads fiction regularly already knows this. Mentioning a brand name in a work of fiction is generally considered fair use unless
