A Common Mark Certificate (CMC) is a digital certificate that lets businesses display their logo in email inboxes (like Gmail's) without needing a registered trademark, unlike a Verified Mark Certificate (VMC) which requires one. CMCs work with the BIMI standard to build trust and fight phishing by visually confirming an email's legitimacy through logo display, relying on 12+ months of logo use and strong DMARC authentication instead of a trademark. They offer a quicker, more affordable path to brand visibility in email, although support is still growing.
CMCs democratize the benefits of BIMI, implementing a logo-verified trust model for organizations that may not hold a registered trademark or are in jurisdictions where trademarks are harder to obtain. It is a vital tool for broadening the scope of email authentication and branding.
