Two companies recently qualifiedÃÂ to useÃÂ aÃÂ couple of differentÃÂ certification marksÃÂ to further theirÃÂ green branding efforts.ÃÂ Hewlett-PackardÃÂ (HP) just announced that all of its business PC, printing and server products shipped in the U.S. and Canada have qualified for the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) SmartWay certification.ÃÂ
In a previous post I discussed the SmartWay program, which certifies low environmental impact vehicles.ÃÂ Earlier this year,ÃÂ all of HP’s consumer products were also SmartWayÃÂ certified.ÃÂ This means that nowÃÂ bothÃÂ HP’s consumer products and business products are shipped by SmartWay-certified surfaceÃÂ transportation carriers, and the SmartWay logo will appear onÃÂ HP’s product packaging.
Massachusetts packaging company Be Green PackagingÃÂ (BGP) has qualified for the Cradle to Cradle certification, which signifies that a product meets certain sustainability criteria, including being wholly recyclable.ÃÂ ÃÂ
Environmental and sustainabilityÃÂ consulting firmÃÂ McDonough Braungart Design Chemistry (MBDC) owns several certification mark applications for the Cradle to Cradle logo (shown above) and the word marks CRADLE TO CRADLE CERTIFIED and CERTIFIED CRADLE TO CRADLE.ÃÂ MBDC also owns aÃÂ trademark application for CRADLE TO CRADLE for paper and packaging goods.
Interestingly,ÃÂ MBDC’sÃÂ attempts to protectÃÂ similar marksÃÂ as both certification marks and ordinary trademarksÃÂ has createdÃÂ a dilemma for the company.ÃÂ Under U.S. trademark law,ÃÂ an applicantÃÂ can’tÃÂ get a certification mark registration if the applicantÃÂ produces or marketsÃÂ any of the goods or services to which the certification mark is applied.ÃÂ
Accordingly, in an office action on MBDC’s application for the CRADLE TO CRADLE CERTIFIED certification mark,ÃÂ the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office (PTO) required that MBDC abandon its CRADLE TO CRADLE trademark application before the certification mark can be registered (cradleofficeaction.pdf).ÃÂ So MBDC has to make a business decision whether federal protection is more important for its certification program or its paper and packaging brand.
In addition to usingÃÂ MBDC’s certification mark, BGP has filed an application to register its own BE GREEN PACKAGING trademark, and the application seems to be sailing through the PTO without a hitch.ÃÂ ÃÂ In viewÃÂ of theÃÂ problems faced by PNC Bank’s GREEN BRANCHÃÂ application and , one might have expected a rejectionÃÂ on the ground that the mark isÃÂ merely descriptive of environmentally friendly packaging services.
Instead, although theÃÂ trademark examinerÃÂ stated that “green packaging” is descriptive wording, she only required that BGP disclaim any rights to those words apart from the whole mark (begreenofficeaction.pdf).ÃÂ Apparently, likeÃÂ “APPLE” inÃÂ GREEN APPLE CLEANERS,ÃÂ theÃÂ non-descriptive elementÃÂ “BE” in BE GREEN PACKAGINGÃÂ allowed the mark as a whole to clear the descriptiveness hurdle.