A collective trademark, collective trade mark, or collective mark is a
trademark
A trademark (also written trade mark or trade-mark) is a type of intellectual property consisting of a recognizable sign, design, or expression that identifies products or services from a particular source and distinguishes them from others ...
owned by an organization (such as an association), used by its members to identify themselves with a level of quality or accuracy, geographical origin, or other characteristics set by the organization.
Collective trademarks are exceptions to the underlying principle of trademarks in that most trademarks serve as "badges of origin"; they indicate the individual source of the goods or services. A collective trademark, however, can be used by a variety of traders, rather than just one individual concern, provided that the trader belongs to the association.
Collective trademarks differ from
certification mark
A certification mark (or conformity mark) on a commercial product indicates the existence of an accepted product standard or regulation and a claim that the manufacturer has verified compliance with those standards or regulations. The specific ...
s. The main difference is that collective trademarks may be used by particular members of the organization which owns them, while certification marks may be used by anybody who complies with the standards defined by the owner of the particular certification mark. All these factors are being completely as a level of intelatual property
Regulations on use
National trademark laws in some countries (such as
Finland
Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...
,
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
,
Hungary
Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...
and
Switzerland
). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...
) provide for the filing of the regulations as an additional requirement for registration of the collective trademark.
The regulations shall normally specify:
* the name and seat of the organization,
* information on the members authorized to use the collective trademark, including their names, addresses and seats,
* the conditions of membership,
* the conditions of use of the collective trademark,
* the prescriptions relating to the control of the use of the collective trademark,
* the order of proceedings against unauthorized use of the collective trademark.
The main purpose of the regulations is to protect consumers against misleading practices.
International treaties
Many jurisdictions have been required to amend their trademark legislation in order to accommodate the requirement of protection of collective marks under
TRIPs
The Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) is an international legal agreement between all the member nations of the World Trade Organization (WTO). It establishes minimum standards for the regulation by nat ...
. Art. 7 ''bis'' of the
Paris Convention also requires signatories "to accept for filing and to protect collective marks belonging to associations the existence of which is not contrary to the law of the country of origin, even if such organizations do not possess an industrial or commercial establishment."
Examples
Examples of collective trademarks include:
* the "CA" device used by the Institute of Chartered
Accountant
An accountant is a practitioner of accounting or accountancy.
Accountants who have demonstrated competency through their professional associations' certification exams are certified to use titles such as Chartered Accountant, Chartered Certifi ...
s;
* the mark "CPA", used to indicate members of the Society of
Certified Public Accountant
Certified Public Accountant (CPA) is the title of qualified accountants in numerous countries in the English-speaking world. It is generally equivalent to the title of chartered accountant in other English-speaking countries. In the United Sta ...
s; and,
* the marks of various confederated
lobby group
In politics, lobbying, persuasion or interest representation is the act of lawfully attempting to influence the actions, policies, or decisions of government officials, most often legislators or members of regulatory agencies. Lobbying, which ...
s.
Related cases
* The Parma Ham case
991RPC 251, in which the '' Consorzio del
Prosciutto di Parma
''Prosciutto crudo'', in English often shortened to prosciutto ( , ), is Italian uncooked, unsmoked, and dry-cured ham. ''Prosciutto crudo'' is usually served thinly sliced.
Several regions in Italy have their own variations of ''prosciutto crudo ...
'' sued for passing off their unregistered collective mark;
* ''Association of Certified Public Accountants v. Trade Secretary''
998
Year 998 ( CMXCVIII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.
Events
By place
Europe
* Spring – Otto III retakes Rome and restores power in the papal city. Crescenti ...
1 WLR 164.
See also
*
Certification mark
A certification mark (or conformity mark) on a commercial product indicates the existence of an accepted product standard or regulation and a claim that the manufacturer has verified compliance with those standards or regulations. The specific ...
Trademark law
{{Trademark law