A certification mark on a commercial product indicates five things:

• The existence of a legal follow-up or product certification agreement between the manufacturer of a product and an organisation with national accreditation for both testing and certification,
• Legal evidence that the product was successfully tested in accordance with a nationally accredited standard,
• Legal assurance the accredited certification organisation has ensured that the item that was successfully tested and is identical to that which is being offered for sale,
• 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 compliance with the law through listing and approval use and compliance,
• Legal assurance that the manufacturer is being regularly audited by the certification organisation to ensure the maintenance of the original process standard that was employed in the manufacture of the test specimen that passed the test. If the manufacturer should fail an audit, all product that was certified, including labels of stock on hand, on construction sites, with end-user customers and on distributor store shelves, can be mandated by the cirtification organisation in charge to be immediately removed, and can insist that all stakeholders be informed that the de-listed product certification is no longer eligible for use in field installations.

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 field installations in accordance with the requirements of the code, and/or the origin, material, mode of manufacture of products, mode of performance of services, quality, accuracy of other characteristics of products or services. Product certification or product qualification is the cornerstone of all bounding and the process of certifying that a certain product has passed performance and/or quality assurance tests or qualification requirements stipulated in regulations such as a building code and nationally accredited test standards, or that it complies with a... “Standard” redirects here. ... A Certification listing is a document against which a field installation is compared to make sure that it complies with a regulation, such as a building code. ... For other uses, see Law (disambiguation). ... Listing and approval use and compliance is the activity of adhering to all the requirements of installing and/or using safety-related products and items in conformance with an active certification listing or approval that has been issued by an organisation that is accredited both for testing and product certification... For other uses, see Audit (disambiguation). ... Product certification or product qualification is the cornerstone of all bounding and the process of certifying that a certain product has passed performance and/or quality assurance tests or qualification requirements stipulated in regulations such as a building code and nationally accredited test standards, or that it complies with a... Product certification or product qualification is the cornerstone of all bounding and the process of certifying that a certain product has passed performance and/or quality assurance tests or qualification requirements stipulated in regulations such as a building code and nationally accredited test standards, or that it complies with a... “(TM)” redirects here. ...

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 organization 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. Definition Collective trade marks are trade marks owned by an organisation (such as an association), whose members use them to identify themselves with a level of quality or accuracy, geographical origin, or other characteristics set by the organisation. ...

Certification is often mistakenly referred to as an "approval", which is often not true. Organisations such as Underwriters Laboratories, and CSA International for instance, only "list", they do not approve anything except the use of the mark to show that a product has been certified. Thus, for instance a product certification mark for a fire door or for a spray fireproofing product, does not signify its universal acceptance for use within a building. Approvals are up to the Authority Having Jurisdiction (AHJ), such as a municipal building inspector or fire prevention officer. Conversely, FM Global does use the term "Approvals" for its certification listings, which are intended for use of the products within buildings that are insured by FM Global. The German accreditor Deutsches Institut für Bautechnik (DIBt) issues "Approvals" for systems. All of these listed products must conform to listing and approval use and compliance. The UL Mark Underwriters Laboratories Inc. ... CSA Group is a not-for-profit membership based association serving business, industry, government and consumers. ... Fire-resistance rated door A fire door is a type of door, or closure used as a passive fire protection item within buildings to prevent the spread of fire. ... Fireproofing, a passive fire protection measure, subject to bounding, refers to the act of making materials or structures more resistant to fire, or to those materials themselves. ... Old Executive Office Building, Washington D.C. Bank of China Tower, Hong Kong, China In architecture, construction, engineering and real estate development the word building may refer to one of the following: Any man-made structure used or intended for supporting or sheltering any use or continuous occupancy, or An... Cranes are essential in large construction projects, such as this skyscraper In project architecture and civil engineering, construction is the building or assembly of any infrastructure. ... The FM Global logotype FM Global is a U.S. based company that specializes in property protection and provides insurance and risk management services to some of the worlds largest corporations. ... Old Executive Office Building, Washington D.C. Bank of China Tower, Hong Kong, China In architecture, construction, engineering and real estate development the word building may refer to one of the following: Any man-made structure used or intended for supporting or sheltering any use or continuous occupancy, or An... For other uses, see System (disambiguation). ... Listing and approval use and compliance is the activity of adhering to all the requirements of installing and/or using safety-related products and items in conformance with an active certification listing or approval that has been issued by an organisation that is accredited both for testing and product certification...

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. A workaround is a bypass of a recognized problem in a system. ...

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

Trademark 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

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 by Idaho Potato Commission 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.

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. Legislation (or statutory law) is law which has been promulgated (or enacted) by a legislature or other governing body. ... The WTO Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPs) is an international agreement on the subject of intellectual property. It covers copyright, patents, trademarks, trade secrets, industrial designs, geographical indicia and integrated circuit layouts. ...

Cases

Cases involving certification marks include:

• Re Legal Aid Board's Trade Mark Application (unreported 3 October 2000, UK CA)
• the Sea Island Cotton case [1989]RPC 87

is the 276th day of the year (277th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2000 (MM) was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will display full 2000 Gregorian calendar). ...

See also

• Listing and approval use and compliance
• Product certification
• Certification listing
• Fire protection
• Passive fire protection
• Collective trade marks
• Hallmark
• Trademark
• Underwriters Laboratories
• CSA International
• Canadian Standards Association

Listing and approval use and compliance is the activity of adhering to all the requirements of installing and/or using safety-related products and items in conformance with an active certification listing or approval that has been issued by an organisation that is accredited both for testing and product certification... Product certification or product qualification is the cornerstone of all bounding and the process of certifying that a certain product has passed performance and/or quality assurance tests or qualification requirements stipulated in regulations such as a building code and nationally accredited test standards, or that it complies with a... A Certification listing is a document against which a field installation is compared to make sure that it complies with a regulation, such as a building code. ... Fire protection is the prevention and reduction of the hazards associated with fires. ... Fire-resistance rated wall assembly with fire door, cable tray penetration and intumescent [1] cable coating. ... Definition Collective trade marks are trade marks owned by an organisation (such as an association), whose members use them to identify themselves with a level of quality or accuracy, geographical origin, or other characteristics set by the organisation. ... A hallmark is an official marking made by a trusted party, guardians of the craft or nowadays by an assay office, on items made of precious metals (platinum, gold and silver) that guarantees a certain purity of the metal. ... “(TM)” redirects here. ... The UL Mark Underwriters Laboratories Inc. ... CSA Group is a not-for-profit membership based association serving business, industry, government and consumers. ... CSA Logo with C and US Established in 1919, the Canadian Standards Association (CSA) is a world leader in safety standards testings. ...

External links

• Safety Link - Electrical Product Safety & Standards Resources
• Deutsches Institut für Bautechnik (DIBt)
• The Patent Office (UK): certification marks
• International Trademark Association: certification marks
• Standards Council of Canada
• Underwriters' Laboratories of Canada
• Deutsches Intitut für Normung (DIN)
• iBMB TU Braunschweig
• Applus
• CSA International
• Canadian Standards Association