Cardano Foundation Trademark Policy
The fact that you’re reading this is a very good sign. It means you’re interested in interacting with our brand.
As you can imagine, we get a lot of these requests, so we have a new quick overview for you below to address a few questions that often pop up.
Please read through our Trademark Policy. We want to extend the use of our Marks as widely as possible insofar that such use is aligned with the Project and its core mission values to standardize, protect and promote the Cardano Protocol technology. The Policy describes what trademarks are covered by these guidelines, as well as uses of our Marks that are allowed without additional permission from us.
General rules (e.g. Stake pool / Domain names etc.)
Dos:
When choosing a name for your website domain or stake pool etc. we ask you to be creative and have fun distinguishing yourself.
Make sure that the community can clearly see that your website or stake pool etc. is not an official site or directly affiliated with Cardano or the Cardano Foundation. It may confuse your fellow Cardano fans. And who likes confusion? No one. So here are a few examples of what we mean by being creative:
- Cardanitos.com
- Adaforpresident.com
- IloveCardada.com
- Swissie Cardano (with regards to Switzerland)
- Cardanoist (with regards to Istanbul)
- cardaniers.com
Don’ts:
Names that sound official, that are neither creative nor distinct need to be avoided. Here a list of examples:
- Cardano.com
- Adastakepool
- Cardano Stake/Staking Pool
- cardano-staking.com
URLs/Websites and Pools with a name related to a place, city or country leave the impression that they are of an official nature, i.e. connected to Cardano / the Cardano Foundation. For example:
- CardanoFrance.com
- AdaAfrica
- Cardano.co.za
- Ada.pool.afrika
- cardanopool.eu
This too, is misleading and confusing for your fellow Cardano fans, they could think this is an official Cardano site.
On GitHub you can find more info and examples with regards to stake pool names. Please read this and this (everything under “legal”) that gives you even more information.
Specific rules for Logo use and Merchandise
Dos:
With regards to logo use and Merchandise:
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You can of course use our standalone logo without alterations. You may find your options here (please read the ‘readme’ doc first).
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Kindly ensure to add the registered trademark symbol (®) at the top right corner of the logo.
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Send us an email to legal@cardanofoundation.org to show your use of our Marks with examples (pictures of how you use the Marks and for which products).
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Here are a few examples of what is allowed and what we mean with standalone logo / logo without alterations:
Don’ts:
- Mix your own brand/logo with a Cardano trademark.
- Altering the logo and changing its essence is not allowed. Here are a few examples:
We encourage everyone to be creative and believe in the strength of their own brand first and foremost.
And above all: thanks for being a part of our mission!