This page was last updated in March 2000. You may return to one either the section index , or to the key word index . The owner of a certification mark is the party responsible for the certification which is conveyed by the mark. The certifier, as owner, is the only person who may file an application for registration of a certification mark.
Certification is often the sole activity in which the owner of a certification mark is engaged.
However, a person is not necessarily precluded from owning a certification mark because he also engages in other activities, including the sale of goods or the performance of services. In this event, however, the certification mark may not be the same mark which the person uses as a trademark or service mark on goods or services. Examples of organizations which conduct both types of activity are trade associations and other membership or 'club' types of businesses, such as automobile associations. Such organizations may perform services for their members, and sell various goods to their members and others, as well as conduct programs wherein they certify characteristics or other aspects of goods or services, especially of kinds which relate to the main purpose of the association. Manufacturing or service companies which are not involved in certifying the goods or services of members may nonetheless engage in certification programs under proper circumstances.