NFRC’s Logo Gets Legal

By Scott Meza, Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo PC

Participants in NFRC’s window rating and certification programs are familiar with NFRC’s distinctive certification mark: the stylized window with the half sun and snowflake design. For many years that symbol has represented to the general public that windows bearing the NFRC label have been rated for thermal and other performance attributes, and that those ratings have been certified by an independent certification agency.

What most people don't realize is that a certification mark is a highly specialized kind of trademark granted by the U.S. Trademark Office. Certification marks are subject to strict limitations on how they may be used that do not apply to traditional trademarks and servicemarks. Those limitations are imposed not only on NFRC but also on the manufacturers, labs and IAs who are licensed by NFRC to use that mark.

For example, certification marks must be used exclusively for the purpose of informing consumers that a product meets the standards established by the owner of that mark. Certification marks may not be used in conjunction with any misstatement or exaggeration of the quality or performance of a product. Traditional trademarks and service marks typically are used primarily to advertise and promote the mark owner’s products and do not represent compliance with any uniform standards established for similar products.

Conventional trade marks and servicemarks are also normally displayed only by the owner of that mark and are intended to associate those marks exclusively with that owner’s products and services. In contrast, a certification mark is used by many vendors on many different products and is therefore not associated principally with one vendor or a specific brand of product.

Consistent with the purpose for which certification marks were created, the NFRC certification mark on a window product assures consumers that that product has met the testing and verification regime administered by NFRC through its licensees. To ensure the integrity of the certification mark, federal law requires NFRC to carefully control the use of its certification mark by other organizations. If NFRC does not prohibit others from using the mark in a manner other than for certification of qualified fenestration products, the validity of NFRC’s mark is subject to challenge.

One way that NFRC protects its certification mark is to require all parties who wish to display the mark to sign the standard NFRC license agreement that carefully sets out what may and may not be done with that mark. These license agreements give the licensees the right to use the NFRC certification mark for purposes of certifying compliance of their fenestration products with NFRC standards and to inform the public that they are participants in NFRC’s program. Misuse of the certification mark is grounds for termination of the license agreement. In addition, NFRC’s Compliance Monitoring and Assurance Program assesses fines against parties that misuse the NFRC certification mark. Federal law also provides NFRC with other remedies to protect its certification mark from misuse.

The NFRC certification mark is a unique asset to the organization and a valuable symbol for the consumer and the participants in NFRC’s rating and certification program. NFRC will continue to work to increase the recognition of that symbol in the fenestration industry and protect against misuse of that mark.

In this Issue

NFRC’s Logo Gets Legal >>>

Industry Associations Focus on Media, Marketing and Education >>>

Codes Update >>>

Chairman’s Message >>>

Industry News >>>

Member News/Across the Transom >>>

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NFRC Update | Volume 14 | Number 1 | January/February 2005