InterNACHI® Certified Professional Inspector (CPI)® Federal Certification Mark & Credential
Certified Professional Inspector (CPI)® is a United States federally registered certification mark for the building inspector professional credential. This mark is registered on the Principal Register at www.uspto.gov.
This description for proper use of the designation and credential is from the USPTO website regarding Certified Professional Inspector (CPI)®:
"The certification mark, as used by persons authorized by the certifier, certifies that the inspections of residential and commercial buildings provided have been performed by an inspector who has met the online examination requirements as established by the certifier."
To use the Certified Professional Inspector (CPI)® certification and logo, the individual must be certified by InterNACHI®, which includes passing the Online Inspector Exam at www.nachi.org/aboutexam.
There are six steps to becoming an InterNACHI® Certified Home Inspector and attaining the Certified Professional Inspector (CPI)® credential. Start by visiting www.nachi.org/cpi-requirements.
InterNACHI® School is accredited as a nonprofit post-secondary educational institution (college) by the Accrediting Council for Continuing Education & Training (ACCET), a national accrediting agency recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. InterNACHI® School provides the training, certification, and Certified Professional Inspector® credential. Visit us at internachi.edu.
Registered Certification Mark
After an approval process lasting more than four years, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has awarded InterNACHI® a federally issued Registered Certification Mark and Credential for CERTIFIED PROFESSIONAL INSPECTOR (CPI)®. The application for the mark was first filed with the USPTO on October 26, 2005, published for opposition on January 15, 2008, and awarded to InterNACHI® on November 24, 2009. An additional mark was awarded on November 27, 2018.
Jobs Task Analysis of Certified Professional Inspector®
The Home Inspector Job Task Analysis lists all of the tasks Certified Professional Inspector (CPI)® may perform, as well as the knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSA) required to do these tasks and perform competently as a professional home inspector. A job task analysis is a foundation for any valid credentialing program and helps identify the core knowledge areas, critical work functions, and skills typically found across a representative sampling of current practitioners or job incumbent workers.
Differences Between Trademark Registration on the Supplemental Register and the Principal Register:
- While a Principal Registration is prima facie evidence of the registrant’s exclusive right to use of the mark, a Supplemental Registration has no such evidentiary effect.
- While a Principal Registration is constructive notice of claim of ownership so as to eliminate a defense of good faith, a Supplemental Registration has no such effect.
- While a Principal Registration may become incontestable after five years of registration, a Supplemental Registration can never achieve that evidentiary status.
- While a Principal Registration can be used as a basis for the U.S. Department of the Treasury to stop importations of infringing products into the United States, a Supplemental Registration cannot.
- While a Principal Registration receives protection as a valid trademark in litigation, a Supplemental Registration will not, prima facie, receive protection as a valid trademark because its very presence on the Supplemental Register indicates a preliminary determination that the mark is not distinctive of the applicant’s goods.
Non-certified use: Stop! We mean it.
The International Association of Certified Home Inspectors – InterNACHI® – is a Colorado non-profit, tax-exempt corporation and owns the federally-issued registered certification mark for Certified Professional Inspector (CPI)®. The trademark is on the Principal Register. This is a certification mark used by inspectors who qualify for the credential designation. Those who have earned the designation often use the abbreviations "CPI" and "C.P.I.," and InterNACHI® also claims common-law trademark rights on "CPI" and "C.P.I." within the inspection industry.
If it comes to our attention that you are using "Certified Professional Inspector®," "CPI" or "C.P.I." in marketing yourself or your company, be alerted that your use of that designation is a direct infringement on InterNACHI's ownership, as it can cause confusion in the industry and dilutes InterNACHI's marks.
In that event, InterNACHI® demands that you immediately cease and desist from all use of "Certified Professional Inspector®," "CPI" or "C.P.I." Please remove those references from your website and any printed materials. If you comply with this demand within ten days, InterNACHI® will take no further action against you.
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Members have unlimited access to all of InterNACHI's free, online training and Continuing Education. Learn at your own pace, and when you're ready, you can attain certification (at no additional charge). There are more than 60 additional inspector certifications and credentials from which to choose.
CLICK HERE to read the requirements for becoming a CPI.
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