Brand Independence

Last updated: 2026-09-06.

Independence statement

GlossAtlas is an independent comparison tool. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Sherwin-Williams, Benjamin Moore, Behr, Valspar, or any other paint manufacturer named on this site. All brand and product names are trademarks of their respective owners.

This statement (or the page-specific version of it) appears visibly on every page of the site that names a manufacturer — comparison results and brand pages — not only here or in a footer.

Why GlossAtlas can compare these brands by name

Naming a manufacturer’s product by its real name in order to make a truthful, accurate comparison is the standard nominative fair use case in trademark law. Three conditions apply here:

1. The product cannot be accurately identified any other way. There is no way to refer to “Sherwin-Williams Emerald Satin” except by using that name.
2. Only as much of the mark is used as necessary. GlossAtlas uses brand, product-line, and finish names in plain text — never a manufacturer’s logo, brand-specific color palette, or trade dress.
3. The use does not suggest sponsorship or endorsement. The independence statement above, shown next to every brand mention, closes this condition directly.

What GlossAtlas does and does not do with a brand’s identity

Does:

• Refer to manufacturers and their products by their real, plain-text names, exactly as published.
• Cite the specific manufacturer document (technical/product data sheet) each figure came from, with a link to the manufacturer’s own published page and the revision date used.
• State comparisons as GlossAtlas’s own measurement-based observation — for example, “these two ranges overlap by N gloss units,” or “no close measured equivalent was found in this brand’s published data” — never as something a manufacturer said about a competitor’s product.

Does not:

• Reproduce any manufacturer’s logo, brand-specific color swatches, or trade dress (distinctive fonts, brand color schemes) anywhere on the site.
• Use any manufacturer’s trademark in GlossAtlas’s own name, domain, or logo. (“GlossAtlas” was chosen specifically so it could never read as a co-branded or manufacturer-affiliated product.)
• Ever describe two finishes as an “exact match,” “identical,” “the same product,” or a “guaranteed” or “manufacturer-approved” equivalent. See the Prohibited claims section below.
• Suggest, anywhere, that a comparison result reflects a manufacturer’s own opinion about a competitor’s product.

Claims GlossAtlas makes, and does not make

GlossAtlas’s comparisons are phrased only as:

• “closest measured finish” / “closest published sheen”
• “published measurement overlap” / “ranges overlap by N gloss units”
• “nearest published range” (when ranges don’t overlap)
• “no close measured equivalent found in this brand’s published data”

GlossAtlas never claims, anywhere on the site:

• “exact match,” “identical finish,” or “same product”
• “guaranteed equivalent” or that two finishes “will look identical”
• “manufacturer-approved equivalent,” or anything implying a manufacturer endorsed the comparison
• Any comparison phrased as if a manufacturer said it about a competitor

Trademark ownership

Sherwin-Williams, Emerald, Benjamin Moore, Aura, Behr, Marquee, Valspar, Signature, and every other product or brand name referenced on this site are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners. Reference to these names is made solely to accurately identify the products being compared and does not imply any relationship between GlossAtlas and the trademark holders.

Source citations

Every figure shown next to a brand’s finish links to that manufacturer’s own published source document and states the revision date GlossAtlas last verified it against. This is both a provenance discipline GlossAtlas holds itself to across every page and a further, independent confirmation that each figure is the manufacturer’s own public claim about its own product — not GlossAtlas’s claim on the manufacturer’s behalf.