While it is our practice to educate manufacturers about the proper use of the Bluetooth brand by stating that "the Bluetooth Logo shall be used only in conjunction with qualified Bluetooth products and services that go through the Qualification Program," there are cases where it is legitimately difficult for manufacturers to meet this guideline.

Manufacturers have been known to sell products that do not have Bluetooth hardware but include the Bluetooth icon/switch on the product user interface that is intended to enable/disable that functionality. It is difficult for manufacturers to create separate casings for each model, based on the options that a consumer may or may not want.

Manufacturers should consider a product packaging design that does not use Bluetooth logo if the technology is only going to be made available as an optional component. At any rate, it is a violation to use the Bluetooth word mark and/or logos in relation to a product that is not in fact Bluetooth enabled. As such, any use of the Bluetooth logos in a situation described above should be reported to the Bluetooth SIG by submitting a support request.

KB0010182