Verify certificate of authenticity for a Mark

To verify certificate of authenticity for a Gradiently Mark, go to gradiently.design/verify, type the certificate number from the top of the certificate (it reads like GRC-7K2M-9QXA-4TPW) or the Mark's code, and choose Check. You need no account. The answer comes straight from the Gradiently registry, the only place certificates are issued: whether the certificate is genuine and current, who holds the Mark today and since when, and every change of hands since it was made.

This page is a practical walkthrough of that check and how to read the result. For what codes and certificates are in the first place, see Mark codes and certificates.

When you would verify a certificate

• A client taking over from an agency wants proof the Mark their brand runs on is now in their name, not the agency's.
• Someone about to claim a Mark listed on the Market wants to see its history before relying on it.
• A business recording its brand assets keeps the certificate number in its style guide and checks it each year.
• Anyone shown a design who wants to know whether its look genuinely belongs to the brand using it.

How to verify a certificate, step by step

1. 1

   Find the number

   It sits at the top of the certificate. If you only have the Mark's code, such as GR·K7Q2·MX, that works too.

2. 2

   Open the verify page

   Go to gradiently.design/verify. You can also reach a Mark's certificate from Certificate of authenticity in its Details.

3. 3

   Type it and choose Check

   Certificate numbers start with GRC and have three groups of four characters. If the format is wrong, the page tells you before it searches.

4. 4

   Read the verdict first

   The sentence at the top says whether this certificate is current. Everything below it is evidence for that sentence.

5. 5

   Then read the history

   Every event, with dates, from the Mark's creation to its current holder.

Certificate number   GRC-7K2M-9QXA-4TPW   one owner's time with one Mark
Mark code            GR·K7Q2·MX           the Mark itself, never changes
Code, typed loosely  grk7q2mx             also accepted: no dots, any case

If nothing matches, the page says no certificate has that number. Check each character against the original: a mistyped group is the usual cause. If you entered a Mark's code and nobody has claimed it yet, the page says the Mark has no certificate yet, because the first person to claim it receives the first one.

What the four verdicts mean

The replaced and no longer current verdicts are not warnings of fraud. They are how the record stays honest: an old certificate is still a true statement about the past, it just isn't proof of the present. Anyone about to claim a listed Mark, or a client taking one over, should want to see Authentic and current.

What a certificate shows

The fingerprint deserves a word. SHA-256 is a standard way of turning data into a fixed string of characters: change anything in the input and the string changes completely. The registry fingerprints the Mark's artwork, so the fingerprint ties the certificate to one exact recipe. You can copy it from the certificate if you want to record it alongside the number.

Reading the history

Below the facts is the Mark's history, oldest first. The events you'll see are Created by, Claimed by, Claimed on the Market by, Transferred to and Returned to Gradiently. A Mark that an agency claimed and then gave to its client reads as created, claimed by the agency, then transferred to the client, with the client's certificate marked current and the agency's replaced. A Mark that went unkept reads as returned to Gradiently before its next claim.

What a certificate proves, and what it doesn't

If you need legal protection for a brand's look, speak to a trademark professional in your country. The certificate gives you something simpler and immediate: a public record anyone can check. Marks compared with NFTs and digital ownership certificates go further into the difference.

Keeping your own certificate to hand

From any certificate you can copy its number, copy a link to it, open the Mark, or choose Download certificate for a PDF copy. A good habit is to put the Mark's code and the current certificate number in your brand style guide, so a new designer, a printer or a client can check the look in seconds. When the Mark changes hands, through a transfer or a claim on the Market, update the number: the old one will still verify, but as replaced.