Certification Trade Marks are a special form of trade mark which are supposed to be properly registered in the legal jurisdictions in which they are to be used. The times at which they can be used by companies are strictly defined.

In some cases they are to indicate a "Quality Management System" is in place and at other times to be applied to specific goods which have been certified to meet a specific standard.

In Australia the registration of CTM's is done through IP Australia in conjunction with the ACCC.

In the case of motorcycle helmets the marks being applied to helmets in the period 2002 to 2014 are not properly registered with IP Australia to be used as CTM's. Why this is the case and why action has not been taken by IP Australia or ACCC is a good question.

This has lead to confusion in the marketplace with regulators, police and riders over what constitutes a valid certification mark for a helmet. The failure to establish a single trade mark for AS1698 complicates the issue.

In 1990 SA agreed to allow their certification trade marks to lapse and then in 1992 register a new mark, the now infamous 5 ticks mark which was established with the assistance of Govt as a mark of quality then sold to SAI Global a private company leaving consumers believing it was a Govt endorsed mark.