Get VMC - Verified Mark Certificate at Abion

Why you should have a VMC Certificate

Increase open rate and brand awareness with a Verified Mark Certificate (VMC). A VMC Certificate also enables your company to render both a Google Checkmark and your logotype next to your brand name in your customer’s email inbox. Contact us and we will help set it up!

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Benefits with VMC Certificate

  • With the Google Checkmark, you show the recipient that you own the email address and the trademark
  • Increases open rate by 10 %
  • Increased brand exposure
  • Your customers will see your logo in their inbox, before they even open the e-mail!
  • Prevents phishing and spoofing, which comes with enforcing DMARC
Picture of man who got VMC email notification on his watch

Make sure all criteria are met before VMC

In order to obtain a certificate, you need to ensure that your figurative/word mark is properly registered and that your e-mail infrastructure has the right level of security protection.

Parts of the process may take time. A trademark application usually takes 3-6 months and implementation of the required security levels for your email may take 1-3 months.

Implementation of DMARC

A requirement for obtaining a VMC is that DMARC is implemented on the domain you use for e-mail. We will help you with this!

Review figurative/word mark

You must have proper trademark protection for the exact logotype you intend to use. Convert your logo to an SVG Tiny ps file.

Contact us today!

It may take a couple of months to implement DMARC or to register your trademark. We help to check that you have the conditions to be able to by the certificate. Contact us directly and we will help you!

Which email would you click? Get a better open rate with Verified Mark Certificate - VMC at Abion

Which one would you open?

How does VMC work?

VMC is based in both law and IT and is a revolutionary change in e-mail infrastructure. VMC is the next phase in the development of BIMI (Brand Indicators for Message Identification) that enables trademark owners to display their logo in authenticated e-mails. The VMC certificate is the legal part that validates and confirms that an organization has the right to use a logotype.

Criterias for VMC

In order for the certificate to be issued, it is required that you have implemented DMARC with your existing e-mail client. DMARC secures that the domain you are e-mailing from has adequate security levels. Abion provides a service called Secure Email (EPC) so that you can implement DMARC with the correct quarantine policy.

In addition to implementing DMARC, you must also prove that you own legal rights to the logotype, as the main purpose of the VMC certificate is to validate that the organization owns the rights to a figurative/word mark. At present, you can only use registered figurative/word marks that are verified by affiliated intellectual property authorities.

With the right level of e-mail security and a registered figurative/word mark, you will be able to implement the certificate that gives you the right to render your logo in certain e-mail clients.

Is your brand ready to rule the inbox?

Fill out the form and we will analyze how ready your brand is, with no strings attached.

  • What logo have you registered
  • If the logo registered for the right markets
  • The security levels on your email

FAQ

We own a Swedish figurative/word mark; can we use that?

Yes, the Swedish Patent and Registration Office (PRV) is affiliated with VMC. Both word marks and figurative marks registered by PRV can be used for a VMC certificate.

The other, currently, affiliated intellectual property authorities are the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), Canadian Intellectual Property Office, European Union Intellectual Property Office, UK Intellectual Property Office, Deutsches Patent- und Markenamt, Japan Trademark Office, IP Australia.

We only own rights to a word mark, can we use that?

Yes, both word marks and figure marks/logos can be used, as long as they are registered. However, it may be good to know that figure marks/logos are recommended, as they are most compatible with VMC.

We have several different logos – how can we use them?

Only one logo can be used for each email domain. However, alternative logos can be used for email subdomains. For example, you may have a VMC certificate for domain.com and one for marketing.domain.com.

Can we use a trademark that we do not own, but we have a license for or permission to use?

Yes, if you can present a written certificate from the trademark owner showing that you may use the trademark for VMC. Keep in mind that a certificate is always required if the person applying for VMC is not a trademark holder in the trademark register.

How much does a VMC cost?

The cost of implementing a VMC depends on what preparations your organization needs to make. Get in touch and let us look at what preparations you need to make.

Am I allowed to modify the figurative/word mark?

The figurative/word mark must be valid, registered and verified by an intellectual property authority affiliated with VMC. It is then implemented in SVG format (Scalable Vector Graphics) in accordance with current SVG guidelines. The figurative/word mark must be reproduced in exactly the same way as it was registered. However, it is possible to adjust the size, crop and scale as long as the entire figure mark is still visible, but it is not allowed to change color, background or opacity. Since the majority of logotype exposure areas are expected to have a square or circular aspect ratio, we recommend a centered logo in a square SVG format.

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