Certification mark

A certification mark on a commercial product legally enables bounding and further indicates five (5) things:

1. the existence of a legal follow-up or product certification agreement between the manufacturer of a product and an organisation that possesses accreditation by a national government for both testing and product certification,

2. legal evidence that the product was successfully tested in accordance with a nationally accredited standard,

3. legal assurance the accredited certification organisation has ensured that the item that was successfully tested, is identical to that which is being offered for sale,

4. legal assurance that the successful test has resulted in a certification listing, which is considered public information, which sets out the tolerances and conditions of use for the certified product, to enable bounding, and thus compliance with the law,

5. legal assurance that the manufacturer is being regularly auditet by the certification organisation, at unannounced intervals, to ensure the maintenance of the original process standard that was employed in the manufacture of the test specimen that passed the test, and that if the manufacturer should fail an audit, all product certification, including labels of stock on hand, on construction sites, with end-user customers and on distributor store shelves, shall be immediately removed, and all stakeholders will be informed that the de-listed product certification is no longer eligible for use in bounding.

On the part of the certifier, the label itself is a type of trademark whereby the listee, or manufacturer, uses the mark to indicate eligibility of the products for use in bounding, and/or the origin, material, mode of manufacture of products, mode of performance of services, quality, accuracy of other characteristics of products or services.

Certification Marks Distinguished From Other Marks

Certification marks differ from collective trade marks. The main difference is that collective trade marks may be used by particular members of the organisation which owns them, while certification marks are the only evidence of the existence of follow-up agreements between manufacturers and nationally accredited testing and certification organisations. Certification organisations charge for the use of their labels and are thus always aware of exact production numbers. In this way, certification organisations can be seen to earn a commission from sales of products under their follow-up regimes. In return, the use of the certification marks enables the product sales in the first place.

Certification is often mistakenly referred to as an "approval", which is often not true. Organisations such as Underwriters Laboratories, for instance, only "list", they do not approve anything. There is no such thing as a UL approval. Thus, for instance a product certification mark for a fire door or for a spray fireproofing product, does not signify its universal acceptance within a building. Approvals are up to the Authority Having Jurisdiction (AHJ), such as a municipal building inspector or fire prevention officer. Conversely, Factory Mutual (FM Global) does issue "Approvals", for use of the products within buildings that are FM insured - BUT, the installations are still subject to bounding. Also, the German accreditor Deutsches Institut für Bautechnik (DIBt) [http://www.dibt.de/ issues "Approvals" for systems, but those too, are still subject to bounding.

For various reasons, usually relating to technical issues, certification marks are difficult to register, especially in relation to services. One practical workaround for trade mark owners is to register the mark as an ordinary trade mark in relation to quality control and similar services.

Certification marks can be owned by independent companies absolutely unrelated in ownership to the companies, offering goods or rendering services under the particular certification mark.

Regulations Concerning The Use Of Certification Marks

Trade mark laws in countries which provide for the filing of applications to register certificate marks also usually require the submission of regulations which set out a number of matters, including:

the people authorised to use the certification mark
the characteristics to be certified by the certification mark
how the certifying or standards tests these characteristics and supervises the use of the mark
dispute resolution procedures

The main purpose of the regulations is to protect consumers against misleading practices.

Examples Of Certification Marks

Examples of certification marks include:

Underwriters Laboratories holds a service mark on the phrase "UL Listed," and allows manufacturers of electrical and other safety equipment to use the UL mark only if they are under follow-up agreement by UL. This lets consumers identify products that meet quality criteria set by a company other than the manufacturer.

The "Woolmark" certification mark, used to identify goods which contain wool.

The "Idaho" and "Grown In Idaho" certification marks, used to indicate potatoes grown in the State of Idaho in the United States of America.

The "Champagne" certification mark, used to indicate goods which have an appellation of origin of the Champagne region in France.
The Bureau Veritas certification mark, used to indicate, for example, sea-worthiness of ships.
(U in a full circle), the hechsher of the Orthodox Union.

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International Treaties And Certification Marks

Many jurisdictions have been required to amend their trade mark legislation in order to accommodate the requirement of protection of certification marks under TRIPs.