Getting started

Who it reaches

On this page11

The jurisdictional hook Which catches the whole modern craft market The duty attaches to the person applying the mark And stamping is optional So an unmarked piece is a lawful piece But describing it is a different regime The trademark has to be registered or applied for Thirty days is short Multi-part articles have their own requirement And then there is the box References

Mailing it is enough. You do not have to be a factory.

The jurisdictional hook

The provisions reach articles deposited in the United States mails or transported between states. Selling online and posting a parcel is squarely inside that.

Which catches the whole modern craft market

A bench jeweller selling through a marketplace to buyers in other states is doing exactly what the statute describes, however small the operation.

The duty attaches to the person applying the mark

Not to a manufacturer in the abstract. If you stamped 14K on it, the trademark requirement is yours.

And stamping is optional

Which is the part people miss. Nothing compels you to put a quality mark on a piece. The requirements attach once you choose to.

So an unmarked piece is a lawful piece

Sold honestly and described accurately, with no quality mark, it raises none of this. That is a legitimate choice for a maker who does not want a registered trademark.

But describing it is a different regime

What you may call a piece in advertising and listings is the FTC Jewelry Guides at 16 CFR part 23, which this property does not summarize. Stamping and describing are separate questions.

The trademark has to be registered or applied for

Within thirty days after an article bearing it is placed in commerce or imported. Or you use your name instead, which is the simpler route for a small maker.

Thirty days is short

It runs from the article entering commerce rather than from when you got around to filing, which means the filing has to be part of the launch rather than a later tidy-up.

Multi-part articles have their own requirement

Parts marked with quality indications matching in pattern and size, in lettering at least as large as the quality mark. A clasp marked differently from the chain is the failure this addresses.

And then there is the box

Which is the provision that makes this a packaging property, and it has its own section.

References

15 U.S.C. 297(b). A person applying a quality mark indicating gold or silver content must also apply a trademark "which has been duly registered or applied for registration under the laws of the United States within thirty days after an article bearing the trademark is placed in commerce or imported into the United States, or the name of such person". Parts of a multi-part article must be marked with quality indications matching in pattern and size, in lettering at least as large as the quality mark. The provisions reach articles deposited in the United States mails or transported between states. law.cornell.edu

15 U.S.C. 297(a), National Gold and Silver Stamping Act. On a plated article, "no such article, nor any tag, card, or label attached thereto, nor any box, package, cover, or wrapper in which such article is incased or inclosed, shall be stamped, branded, engraved, or imprinted with the word 'sterling' or the word 'coin'". The section also prohibits marking a plated article with a fineness indication unless accompanied by wording identifying it as rolled gold plate, gold plate, gold electroplate or gold filled. law.cornell.edu

Written from 15 U.S.C. 295 and 297, and from the catalog as it stood on 19 October 2026. Silver tolerances at 15 U.S.C. 296 were not read for this property and are not summarized. The FTC Jewelry Guides at 16 CFR part 23 govern how jewelry is described and are a separate body of rules. Pickle and patina chemistry is a safety data sheet question and no handling advice is given here.