In order to brand (or re-brand) and sell a Bluetooth® product, your company must join the Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) and complete the Qualification process. To learn more about joining the Bluetooth SIG, please visit: https://www.bluetooth.com/develop-with-bluetooth/join
The Bluetooth Qualification Process exists to ensure global product interoperability, improve quality, and provide the best user experience.
ALL Bluetooth® Products Must Be Qualified
- Product qualifications cannot be inherited from your supplier, you must complete the qualification of your product for yourself
- You can only qualify your products under your member company's account and only by completing the Bluetooth Qualification Process
- It may be possible to complete product qualification by adding the product as a new model to one of your existing qualifications. Or you may need to create a new qualification which may require testing to be completed. The Bluetooth Qualification tool, Launch Studio, can guide you through the appropriate path.
Bluetooth products must be qualified on or before the date that you begin to sell or distribute the product. The details you provide for each Bluetooth product listing must exactly match the product, its packaging markings, and marketing materials. Products which appear to have not completed the Bluetooth Qualification Process may be impounded by customs authorities and will be subject to Bluetooth SIG enforcement actions.
If you are a retailer or supplier selling or distributing another organization's qualified Bluetooth product, and you are not adding any logos, branding, or representing the product as your own, you do not need to complete the Qualification Process for the product. However, you should ensure that the product has been properly qualified. You can check to see if a product is properly qualified by referring to the Bluetooth Product Listing Database.
A member choosing not to use the Bluetooth trademarks must still be compliant with the Bluetooth Patent & Copyright License Agreement. Members are encouraged to review the conditions of the license agreements and consult their legal counsel with any questions regarding the applicable requirements. We are unable to provide any legal advice, including the ramifications resulting from a member’s failure to adhere to the procedures set out in the Bluetooth SIG’s operative, governing documents. For these reasons, we advise that each member company completes the defined processes to ensure they demonstrate and declare compliance to both license agreements.
The Membership Agreements can be downloaded at https://www.bluetooth.com/about-us/governing-documents.
If you do not qualify your product, you become subject to enforcement action. Read the updated policy here for an outline of the escalation schedule. If no corrective actions are taken, your Bluetooth SIG membership could be suspended or revoked.
For more articles on Qualification topics, please see the Qualification Table of Contents.