WOOL CERTIFICATION MARK INFRINGED Wool

WOOL CERTIFICATION MARK INFRINGED

Wool textile organisation The Woolmark Company has uncovered unauthorised use of its Woolmark Blend Certification trademark on men?s apparel in stores throughout Spain and Portugal.

A certification trademark certifies the nature or origin of the goods or services to which it has been applied. This includes, for example, region or location or origin, materials of construction, method or mode of manufacture or provision, quality assurance, accuracy of the goods or services or any definable characteristic of the goods or services. It can also certify manufacture or provision of services by members of a union or other organization to certain standards.

In order to obtain a certification trademark, the applicant will be required to produce operating rules and regulations identifying what is being certified by the mark and the required standards. The organization doing the certifying cannot itself engage in the production or marketing of the goods or services but must be competent to certify that the requirements have been met by any user.  There will need to be methods of testing and quality control with appointed individuals or bodies to periodically ensure conformance by any user. Anyone who can satisfy the rules and regulations and comply with the required criteria set forth in the standards must be granted the right to use the certification mark. The rules and regulations must also include provisions for appeal to a third party where use is refused and the applicant feels that this is unjust.

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<date name="when" value="Tue, 23 Mar 2004 00:40:32 GMT