Trademark policy

The following are trademarks of the OrangeCheck project, claimed under common-law use in commerce:

• OrangeCheck^™
• OCHK^™
• OC Attest^™
• OC Lock^™
• OC Vote^™
• OC Stamp^™
• OC Agent^™
• OC Pledge^™

The "§" section mark, the dot-separated wordmark style (oc·attest, oc·stamp, …), and the orange-on- dark visual identity used across *.ochk.io are also part of the OrangeCheck brand and covered by this policy even where the ™ mark is not displayed.

The marks are distinct from the licenses that govern the underlying material. Source code is licensed under MIT; protocol specifications are licensed under CC-BY-4.0. Neither license grants any rights in the marks.

refer to OrangeCheck by name

Truthful, descriptive references to the project and its protocols are always allowed. You do not need permission to say any of the following:

• >>"Our service uses OrangeCheck."
• >>"Compatible with OC Vote."
• >>"Verifies an OrangeCheck attestation."
• >>"Built on the OC Stamp protocol."
• >>"Implements OC Agent delegations."

fork and modify the open-source code

The MIT and CC-BY-4.0 licenses give you the right to fork, modify, and redistribute the licensed material. This policy does not change that. A fork that materially diverges from the protocol must rename — see [03].

run a node, verifier, or relay

Running an unmodified or compatible implementation that participates in the OrangeCheck protocol family is a permitted use of the marks for the purpose of identifying the protocol you participate in.

• >>Use "OrangeCheck", "OCHK", or "OC <Verb>" as the name of your fork, product, service, company, or organization in a way that suggests endorsement, affiliation, or official status.
• >>Use the OrangeCheck wordmark or logo on a website, application, app store listing, or marketing material in a way that implies the work is official, endorsed, or maintained by the OrangeCheck project.
• >>Register domain names, social-media handles, package names (npm, PyPI, crates, Homebrew), or app store listings that use these marks without prior written permission.
• >>Modify the protocol or reference implementation in a way that breaks compatibility and continue to call the result "OrangeCheck" or "OC <Verb>". Forks that intentionally diverge must rename.
• >>Imply a partnership, sponsorship, certification, or endorsement that does not exist.
• >>Use the marks in a way that is misleading, defamatory, or contrary to applicable law.

You may use the marks descriptively to identify the project — including on comparison pages, in academic papers, and in interoperability claims — provided that:

• >>The use is truthful and not misleading.
• >>The use does not suggest endorsement, sponsorship, or affiliation.
• >>The OrangeCheck marks are not styled more prominently than your own product's name and branding.
• >>You do not use OrangeCheck branding (logos, color, typography) beyond what is necessary to make the reference clear.

• in proselowercase "orangecheck" is the house style for body copy. capitalise as "OrangeCheck" only at the start of a sentence or in a title.
• sub-protocolswrite "OC Attest", "OC Lock", "OC Vote", "OC Stamp", "OC Agent", "OC Pledge" in prose; use "oc·attest", "oc·lock", … (with a centre dot) in nav, headings, and code labels.
• first prominent useon a page, use the ™ symbol on the first prominent occurrence (footer, hero, or first heading). subsequent mentions on the same page do not need ™.
• not a verbdo not write "to orangecheck something" — the marks are not verbs.
• not genericdo not write "an orangecheck" to mean "an attestation in general" — say "an OrangeCheck attestation".

• >>We will update the "Last Updated" date.
• >>For material changes we will provide notice on this page.
• >>Changes become effective when posted.
• >>This policy is provided for clarity and does not enlarge or restrict any rights granted by the MIT or CC-BY-4.0 licenses, which govern code and prose respectively.