As reported by Windsor Genova last week on All Headline News (AHN), the producer of the critically acclaimed film “The King’s Speech” has settled with the American Humane Society (AHS) over the unauthorized use of the group’s trademark-protected pharse “no animals were harmed” frequently seen among the closing credits of so many movies.
Indeed, it turns out that for the last six years the AHS has a registration (US Reg. No. 76,394,807) which claims its use as a certification mark, i.e., as used by authorized persons, it certifies that the treatment of animals during motion picture, film, television, and live show production conforms to the standards, regulations, guidelines, or specifications developed and published by the certifier (AHS).
This is twist on the normal notion of a trademark as a “source indicator” since the certifying entity is not the source of the good or service where this special type of mark appears. The enforcement of new certification marks does catch even the most informed observers by surprise. For example Jeremy Phillips, at The IPKat Blog, admits to being astonished at the situation.
There are plenty more certification marks, than the quintessential Good Housekeeping (Serial No. 77,638,213) and UL (Serial No. 72,022,640) marks. In fact, a quick look at the Trademark Electronic Search System (TESS) on the USPTO.gov site reveals 6,646 records of applications, but very few actual registrations for certification marks. Some examples of registered certification marks are:
WebsiteSecure (Serial No. 85,079,991) which certifies that an online business has been inspected, tested, and passed a rigorous series of security and quality of service tests concerning, where relevant, treatment of submitted payment information, use and retention of customers’ personal information, ease of sign up and cancellation process, responses to customer complaints and cancellation requests, emailing and other communication practices, adherence to stated privacy policies, website design, accuracy of advertising, and clear provision of ethical legal notices.
Skype Certified (Serial No. 78,774,556) which certifies that the goods and services conform to internal quality and compatibility requirements, pursuant to standards designated by Skype Ltd. (IRE).
(U) (Serial No. 85,012,761) certifies that the production of the goods (chemicals, compounds, agents, additives, preservatives, enzymes and proteins used in food or pharmaceuticals) and that the rendering of the services identified in the application has been supervised by the Rabbinical Supervisors of the certifier, under the direction of Histadruth Horabonim De America-Rabbinical Council of America, Inc.