What it means when a company states that they are Pantone-licensed?

Pantone, LLC. licenses our proprietary color systems, like the PANTONE MATCHING SYSTEM® to companies for use with their digital color output devices.

Pantone does not certify color output devices or software; we license companies to use of our color systems in association with their solutions. The term "certified" is often used, albeit incorrectly, when referring to a Pantone-licensed solution. PANTONE Trademarks are not registered as certification marks under the trademark laws of the United States. The following are some different terms which should be used to help you identify color output devices and software that are approved by Pantone for use by our licensees and partners to indicate that their products provide support for a variety of PANTONE Color Systems:

• "Approved by Pantone" or "Pantone-approved"
• "Licensed by Pantone" or "Pantone-licensed"