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Netra Fused Agent Kernel (fak) — the "fak" wordmark and "fak-certified" certification mark

The one control lever a permissive license cannot erode. Apache-2.0 §6 explicitly does not grant trademark rights. So while anyone may use, fork, and commercialize the Apache-2.0 kernel, the marks remain a separate, steward-held lever — the structure that ties a "certified" claim to actually passing a conformance suite. This file is the trademark policy; it is best-effort and not legal advice.

The marks

Mark Type What it identifies
fak Wordmark The project and its official binary/distribution. A short coined term — real clearance/distinctiveness risk, so a clearance search precedes any filing.
fak-certified Certification mark That a third-party implementation passed the fak conformance suite at a named ABI version — nothing more, nothing less.

A certification mark is structurally different from an ordinary trademark: its owner does not use it to brand its own goods, and it must be licensed to anyone who meets the published, objective standard, without discrimination. Those duties are features here — they are exactly what makes "certified" a verifiable claim rather than a marketing word.

The certified claim is defined behaviorally

fak-certified at ABI vX.Y means: the implementation passes the published fak-conformance suite at ABI version vX.Y — i.e. it produces the exact verdict matrix the suite checks (adjudication semantics, plancfi intent-CFI, KV-ownership behavior) and matches the golden ABI contract pinned by the abi-vX.Y git tag.

The certified claim is never broader than what the verdict matrix and the golden contract check. It does not assert performance, security beyond the tested floor, fitness for a purpose, or steward endorsement of the implementer. If the suite does not check it, the mark does not claim it. This keeps the mark honest and keeps the steward's non-discrimination duty tractable: the standard is a test run, not a judgment call.

How to earn and use the mark

  1. Run the standalone fak-conformance suite at a named ABI tag (abi-vX.Y).
  2. The suite is green → you may state "fak-certified at ABI vX.Y" for that build, linking the conformance output. The claim is scoped to the build and the ABI version you tested.
  3. The mark is SLA'd to the ABI cadence: a certification against a superseded ABI version must say so (e.g. "certified at ABI v0.1"); it may not be presented as current.

Permitted use of the "fak" wordmark (nominative / fair use)

You may, without permission, use "fak" to truthfully refer to the project: "works with fak", "a driver for fak", "built on fak", "compatible with the fak ABI". You may keep the name in unmodified redistributions. This is ordinary nominative fair use and the policy does not try to restrict it.

Uses that need permission / are not allowed

  • Using "fak" or a confusingly similar name as the name of your own product, service, or fork in a way that implies it is the official project or is endorsed by the steward.
  • Stating or implying "fak-certified" without a corresponding green conformance run at a named ABI version. This is the misuse the certification structure exists to deter.
  • Modifying the project and continuing to present it under the "fak" name as if it were the official distribution.

Honest limits

This policy deters the careless, not a well-lawyered incumbent. Trademark is a best-effort lever: clearance on a short coined term carries real risk, certification-mark law imposes anti-use-by-owner and non-discrimination duties on the steward, and enforcement is bounded by resources. The point is not an impregnable moat — it is to make "certified" mean a specific, checkable thing, and to keep one lever that survives the permissive license.

Status / to-do (tracking)

  • Trademark clearance + distinctiveness search on "fak" (precedes filing).
  • File the fak wordmark.
  • Reserve the fak-certified certification mark + file the certification standard (the standard = exactly the conformance verdict matrix at a named ABI tag).
  • Write this one-page policy defining the certified claim behaviorally.

See GOVERNANCE.md for the ABI/conformance cadence the mark is tied to, and LICENSING.md for why the mark is the value-capture lever a permissive license leaves intact.

Not legal advice. "fak" and "fak-certified" are claimed as marks of Netra Systems; this policy may change as filings progress and as counsel advises.