ONVIF will clamp down on false claims of ONVIF compliance, reserving the right to take action against companies using apparent compliance with its standards as a marketing tool for non-compliant hardware.
Given the challenges of policing compliance, ONVIF says it will rely on the support of Observer members to alert the company to incidents of non-compliance. As well as the threat of ‘action’ against non-compliers, the organisation will also undertake a process of educating the market about what requirements have to be met before products can be advertised as ONVIF-conformant.
“As ONVIF profiles have increased in deployment and acceptance globally, we have seen a few issues with claims of conformance or misuse of our trademarks,” said Per Björkdahl, chairman of the ONVIF Steering Committee.
“In many cases, we are seeing that the invalid claims are the result of a lack of understanding about the processes, and this is why we are working hard to communicate better with our members about what is required of them,” said Björkdahl.
“Another area we need to educate the market about is regarding the use of rebranded OEM products. ONVIF certifications on OEM products are not transferable, and so members who OEM a product which already has a claim of conformance must retest and submit new documentation to show valid conformance.”
Earlier this year, ONVIF created the new Observer membership, which allows consultants, systems integrators and members of the media to validate claims of conformance with an ONVIF profile. As a result, Björkdahl said they’ve seen an increase in reports of issues with particular products.
“By the nature of their businesses, some observer members are industry watchers who are well positioned to monitor trade advertisements,” Björkdahl said. “Some of these members have been able to spot companies advertising ONVIF conformance that are not ONVIF members and who do not have conformant products listed on the ONVIF website, and have been able to notify ONVIF of these occurrences.”
Additionally, Björkdahl said that they’ve also run into issues with manufacturers that have decided to leave ONVIF and were found to still be using the organization’s logo. Those companies subsequently ceased using the ONVIF logo, according to Björkdahl.
“In recent weeks, ONVIF has received reports of more invalid claims of membership and conformance,” Björkdahl added. “We are investigating each report and will be taking the appropriate steps required on a case-by-case basis.”
Moving forward, Björkdahl said that companies found to be in violation will be instructed to immediately stop advertising their products as being ONVIF-conformant. He said ONVIF reserves the right to take action against these companies if they fail to do so.
“ONVIF will reiterate the conformance process and rules of membership to member manufacturers that claim conformance without having submitted the requested paperwork to ONVIF,” explained Björkdahl.
