> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.optivalux.com/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.optivalux.com/product/product-certificates.md).

# Product Certificates

A **product certificate** is issued by the brand for one specific physical product. It is the anchor of the product's identity: ownership, standing and provenance all attach to it.

## One certificate per product

* Each certificate corresponds to exactly one registered product and its registered authenticator.
* It is created when the brand registers the product, and is held by the brand until someone claims it.
* It is never deleted, and it is never re-issued to a different product.
* It carries a **certificate number**, an identifier for that one certificate.

## Certificate standing

Every certificate has a standing that the issuing brand manages through controlled processes:

| Standing      | Meaning                                                                                                                                               | Reversible? |
| ------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ----------- |
| **Active**    | The certificate is in good standing.                                                                                                                  | —           |
| **Suspended** | The certificate is temporarily not in good standing, for example while the brand investigates a concern. A reason is recorded.                        | Yes         |
| **Voided**    | The certificate has been permanently ended, for example after a counterfeit finding, destruction, recall or registration error. A reason is recorded. | **No**      |

**Voided is terminal.** No process, party or later software can move a certificate out of Voided.

### Standing is not a valid/invalid switch

Standing is one of three separate facts about a product, alongside ownership and authentication availability (see [Product Identity](/product/product-identity.md)). A certificate is not simply "valid" or "invalid":

* A **suspended** certificate still has its owner and its full history. It cannot be transferred while suspended.
* A **voided** certificate keeps its owner and history. Nothing is burned or erased; the record simply shows that the certificate is permanently voided, and why.
* A certificate can be **Active** while verification is temporarily unavailable.

### Standing never changes ownership

Suspending or voiding a certificate never changes who owns it. There is no process by which a brand, or Optivalux, can take a certificate away from its owner or give it to someone else.

## Safeguards on standing changes

Because voiding an owned certificate is permanent, it is deliberately harder than suspending one:

* **Suspension** is fast and reversible, so it can be used during an investigation.
* **Lifting a suspension** requires the brand's security role, a separately controlled brand role.
* **Voiding an owned certificate** requires the brand's security role **and** a prior suspension that has been in place for at least a minimum notice period. The owner can see the suspension and its reason before any permanent step is taken.
* A suspension of an owned certificate made by routine brand administration, rather than the security role, is provisional: it lapses after 14 days unless the security role confirms it, and it cannot lead to voiding while unconfirmed.

The protocol sets a minimum notice period of 72 hours for voiding an owned certificate. The production value is set per deployment and has not yet been decided.

## What owners see

Owners always see the certificate standing and, where the brand provides one, the reason. The history of standing changes remains visible in the product's [provenance](/product/provenance.md).

## What a certificate is not

* It is **not** a guarantee that the product is original. It is the brand's statement about that registered item, combined with authenticity evidence from the item's authenticator.
* It is **not** a legal title document. See [Claims & Limitations](/trust/claims-and-limitations.md).
* It is **not** a speculative or tradable digital asset. It moves only together with the physical product, through owner-authorized transfer.


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