Guidelines for Use of Center for Resource Solutions Trademarks

 

The CRS logo, the Green-e® name and logos, and the Renewable Energy Markets™ conference name and logos, among others (collectively, the “CRS Marks”) are marks owned and administered by the Center for Resource Solutions (“CRS”).

CRS licenses use of these marks for specific purposes on a contractual basis, such as to companies participating in the Green-e® Energy, Green-e® Climate, and Green-e® Marketplace certification programs, and in limited other instances.  To request permission to use a CRS mark, please see the CRS Trademark Permission Request Form or visit the Green-e® website for information about becoming certified.
 

CRS Trademark Permission Request Form
 

These guidelines are for Green-e® participants, CRS licensees, and other parties wishing to use CRS’s trademarks, service marks or images in promotional, advertising, instructional, or reference materials, or on their web sites, products, labels, or packaging. Use of CRS trademarks may be prohibited, unless expressly authorized, and use for commercial purposes may constitute trademark infringement and unfair competition in violation of federal and state laws.

If you are a licensee of a CRS Mark and have been provided with special trademark usage guidelines with your license agreement (for instance, Green-e® Logo Use Guidelines for certification program participants), please follow those guidelines.  If your license agreement does not provide usage guidelines, then follow these guidelines.

CRS’s trademarks, service marks, and trade names are valuable assets. By using a CRS trademark, in whole or in part, you are acknowledging that CRS is the sole owner of the trademark and promising that you will not interfere with CRS’s rights in the trademark, including challenging CRS’s use, registration of, or application to register such trademark, alone or in combination with other words, anywhere in the world, and that you will not harm, misuse, or bring into disrepute any CRS trademark. The goodwill derived from using any part of an CRS trademark exclusively inures to the benefit of and belongs to CRS. Except for the limited right to use as expressly permitted under these Guidelines, no other rights of any kind are granted hereunder, by implication or otherwise. If you have any questions regarding these guidelines, please contact CRS at communications@resource-solutions.org.

When referring to CRS trademarks and the names of CRS products and services, follow these CRS Trademark Guidelines.

You may use CRS trademarks in text solely to refer to and/or link to CRS products and services and in accordance with the terms of these Guidelines.

 

Authorized Use of CRS Trademarks

  1. Advertising, Promotional, and Sales Materials: Only CRS and its authorized licensees may use CRS Marks in advertising, promotional, and sales materials. Such authorized parties may use CRS Marks only as specified in their agreement with CRS and any associated Guidelines and such use must always be in conjunction with the appropriate terms that define the relationship authorized by their contract with CRS.
  2. Publications, Seminars, and Conferences: You may use a CRS word mark in connection with book titles, magazines, periodicals, seminars, or conferences provided you comply with the following requirements:
    1. The use is referential and less prominent than the rest of the title. Acceptable: Certification Programs Promoting Sustainability: Green-e® Certification and Others.
    2. The use reflects favorably on both CRS and CRS programs and services.
    3. Your name and logo appear more prominently than any CRS word mark on all printed materials related to the publication, seminar or conference.
    4. The CRS logo or any other CRS-owned graphic symbol, logo, icon or image does not appear on or in the publication or on any materials related to the publication, seminar, or conference without express written permission from CRS.
    5. A disclaimer of sponsorship, affiliation, or endorsement by CRS, similar to the following, is included on the publication and on all related printed materials: “(Title) is an independent (publication) and has not been authorized, sponsored, or otherwise approved by the Center for Resource Solutions.”
    6. A trademark attribution notice is included in the credit section giving notice of CRS’s ownership of its trademark(s). Please refer to the section below titled “Proper Trademark Notice and Attribution.”
  3. Web Sites: Web sites that serve only as noncommercial electronic informational forums concerning a CRS program or service may use the appropriate CRS word mark, provided such use complies with the guidelines set forth in Section 2 above.

Unauthorized Use of CRS Trademarks

  1. Company, Product, or Service Name: You may not use or register, in whole or in part, Green-e® or any other CRS trademark, including CRS-owned graphic symbols, logos, icons, or an alteration thereof, as or as part of a company name, trade name, product name, or service name except as specifically noted in these guidelines.
  2. CRS Marks and CRS-owned Graphic Symbols: You may not use the CRS logo, the Green‑e® word mark or any Green-e® logo or any other CRS-owned graphic symbol, logo, or icon on or in connection with web sites, products, packaging, manuals, promotional/advertising materials, or for any other purpose except pursuant to an express written trademark license from CRS, such as a certification contract.
  3. Variations, Takeoffs or Abbreviations: You may not use a variation of any CRS trademark, including the Green-e® word mark or logo for any purpose. Third parties cannot use a variation, phonetic equivalent, foreign language equivalent, takeoff, or abbreviation of a CRS Mark for any purpose.
  4. Disparaging Manner: You may not use a CRS trademark or any other CRS-owned graphic symbol, logo, or icon in a disparaging manner.
  5. Endorsement or Sponsorship: You may not use the CRS name or logo, the Green‑e® word mark or logo, or any other CRS trademark, including CRS-owned graphic symbols/logos, or icons, in a manner that would imply CRS’s affiliation with or endorsement, sponsorship, or support of a third party product or service.
  6. Domain Names: You may not use an identical or virtually identical CRS trademark as a second level domain name.
    Not acceptable: “greenerecs.com”, “greenecertified.com”

Rules for Proper Use of CRS Trademarks

  1. Trademarks are adjectives used to modify nouns; the noun is the generic name of a product or service.
    Correct: [Company name] participates in CRS’s Green-e® Energy certification program.
    Not Correct: [Company name] participates in Green-e.
  1. As adjectives, trademarks may not be used in the plural or possessive form.
  2. An appropriate generic term must appear after the trademark the first time it appears in a printed piece, and as often as is reasonable after that. For example: “Green-e® certification program”

Proper Trademark Notice and Attribution

    1. Distribution Within the United States Only
      1. On materials that will be distributed only in the United States, use the appropriate trademark symbol (TM, SM, ®) the first time the CRS trademark appears in the text of the advertisement, brochure, or other material, and the most prominent placement of the mark.
      2. Refer to instructions from CRS for the correct trademark symbol, spelling of the trademark, and generic term to use with the trademark. Generally, the symbol appears at the right shoulder of the trademark (except the Green-e® logo, where the logo appears at the right foot).
      3. Include an attribution of CRS’s ownership of its trademarks within the credit notice section of your product, product documentation, or other product communication.

Following are the correct formats:

_________ and _______ are registered trademarks of the Center for Resource Solutions.

_________ and _______ are trademarks of the Center for Resource Solutions.

    1. Distribution Outside the United States:
      1. Do not use trademark symbols on products, product documentation, or other product communications that will be distributed outside the United States, UNLESS otherwise instructed by CRS.
      2. Use one of the following international credit notices:

_________ is a trademark of the Center for Resource Solutions, registered in the U.S. and other countries.

_________ is a trademark of the Center for Resource Solutions.

For permission to use a CRS Mark, please see the CRS Trademark Permission Request Form or visit the Green-e® website for information about becoming certified. For information about CRS copyrights, please contact CRS.