Certification and Collective Marks: Law and Practice(Elgar Intellectual Property Law and Practice series)

This book is a thoroughly updated and augmented second edition of Certification Marks, first published in 2002, and remains the only complete volume devoted to these increasingly significant types of trademarks.A comprehensive, wide-ranging and insightful inquiry, this new edition compares the certification and collective mark systems of the UK, EU, and US, whilst also referring to other systems. In addition to the laws and policies impacting ownership and use of these marks, also addressed are their historical development, registration and protection, certifiers' liability, legal and commercial significance, and use in regulatory and technical standardization frameworks. This book is especially timely in light of the advent of the EU certification mark and the controversial EU proposals to extend the Geographical Indications system to include non-agri-food products. Key features include: the only complete volume devoted to the law of certification and collective marks discussion of leading cases analysis of liability exposure of product certifiers comparison of certification and collective mark protection of geographical indications with the EU sui generis system examination of emergent forms of certification marks, namely ecolabels and electronic authentication marks in digital content. This book will be of primary interest to trademark practitioners who require a thorough explanation of the statutory protection, registration, and legal and commercial significance of certification and collective marks. It will also provide a helpful reference resource and a platform for further research and policy recommendations to academics in intellectual property and commercial law.

Table of Contents:
Contents: 1. Overview 2. Historical Development of Certification and Collective Marks 3. Elements of Statutory Protection 4. Product Certifiers’ Liability 5. The Legal and Commercial Significance of Certification and Collective Marks 6. Regulations and Standards 7. Ecolabels 8. Authentication Marking of Digital Products Index

About the Author :
Jeffrey Belson

Review :
‘Certification and Collective Marks provides an excellent and readable historical and theoretical underpinning of modern practice in connection with such marks. It is also a useful reference for anyone seeking to administer or to use certification marks and collective marks and underscores the continuing importance of such marks, particularly with respect to certification of ecological characteristics of products, or other criteria that may be important to consumers but that are not readily ascertainable thereby.’ ‘This book is not just the best contemporary resource on certification and collective marks but a valuable addition to the broader scholarship on trade mark law and product marking in general. Jeffrey Belson provides us with a clear, comprehensive and practically oriented guide to this topic. It is also a significant scholarly achievement, retracing the convoluted history of such marks and emphasizing their policy significance, in an increasingly privatized regulatory context which relies on self-certification. Anyone working in the field of contemporary trade mark law would benefit from its insights.’ ‘Jeffrey Belson's book is a very welcome and highly needed contribution to trademark law scholarship. . . this book is an extremely valuable contribution to the intellectual property community. It will no doubt be of value as a reference text, or those looking for a well-researched and thoughtful introduction into the often-under explored world of these shy trademark beasts.' 'This authoritative and well-structured book is an update of and extension to the first edition (2002) that mainly covered certification marks. The second edition (2017) also deals with collective marks, which, due to frequent conflation with certification marks, is greatly welcomed. The book thoroughly analyses the different aspects of this subject matter in clear and concise paragraphs.'