What is a certification mark?
A certification mark is a mark used by various merchants to indicate that their products and services have certain characteristics, such as a specific level of product quality or a certain geographic origin (while a geographic term cannot be used as a general trademark or service mark if it merely serves to indicate geographic origin, the same limitation does not apply to certification marks). For example, Underwriters Laboratories is an organization that certifies and tests certain products. Any merchant that sells products which Underwriters Laboratories deals with, such as smoke detectors, can submit those products for inspection. If the products pass Underwriters Laboratories’ safety requirements, the merchant can use the UL mark in connection with the products to indicate Underwriters Laboratories’ certification. For a certification mark to be valid and enforceable, the owner of the mark cannot use it with their own goods and services.
As defined by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office, a certification mark is any word, name, symbol, device, or any combination, used, or intended to be used, in commerce by someone other than its owner, to certify regional or other origin, material, mode of manufacture, quality, accuracy, or other characteristics of such person’s goods or services, or that the work or labor on the goods or services was performed by members of a union or other organization. See www.uspto.gov. In the case of the Fair Employment Mark, the certification mark is a symbol companies or individuals can use to certify that they produce their goods or provide their services without discriminating in employment on the basis of sexual orientation. On April 17, 2007, the Fair Employment Mark was registered as a certification mark by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (Reg. No. 3,230,946).
A certification mark is a symbol, name, or device used by an organization to vouch for products and services provided by others — for example, the “Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval.” This type of mark may cover characteristics such as regional origin, method of manufacture, product quality, and service accuracy. Some examples of certification marks are: UL (the Underwriters Laboratories certification of electrical standards), Stilton cheese (a product from the Stilton locale in England), and Harris Tweeds (a special weave from a specific area in Scotland).
