Brand protection
An onchain TLD that matches your organization can exist without anyone having told you, and the tools you rely on in the DNS do not reach it: the UDRP stops at the ICANN DNS root. These articles are written for general counsel and brand protection teams. They cover how to audit a name onchain, how to read the public record, what trademark law still offers, how to handle an approach, and when the right decision is to leave a name alone.
Onchain names in a company acquisition: the IP checklist
A target can hold an onchain name that no trademark schedule or registrar report shows. Here is what to ask, what to verify yourself and what to write into the deal papers.
Writing an internal policy for onchain names
Most organizations meet onchain names through an employee who registered one on a personal wallet. Here is the internal rule that prevents that, clause by clause.
Licensees, franchisees and names under your TLD
A name under your TLD tells the public that a third party belongs to your network. Decide who gets one, on what terms, and how it ends before you issue the first.
When a lookalike name reaches your customers
Customers report an onchain name that imitates yours. Here is the order of work for the first day, the first week and the review that follows.
Founder and executive names onchain
A founder's name is not a trademark, and it does not belong to the company by default. A working method for deciding who holds it and what happens when the person leaves.
How to write your onchain name in brand guidelines
Brand guidelines govern the logo to the millimeter and say nothing about the name a customer types into a wallet. Here is the chapter that fills the gap.
Does the UDRP apply to onchain TLDs?
The UDRP binds registrars under contract with ICANN. An onchain registry is outside that contract. Here is what remains.
How a brand gets impersonated onchain: five vectors
A TLD matching your brand is a namespace. Whoever holds it decides which names exist beneath it. Five uses a brand team should recognise.
Trademark TLDs onchain: what they are and why they exist
Onchain TLDs matching well-known names exist. How that came about, and what it means for the organizations they match.
Lookalike onchain TLDs: which variants of your name matter
You cannot hold every variant of your name, and you do not need to. A way to rank them.
How to audit your brand's onchain namespace
A namespace audit fits in a few working sessions. The method, step by step, with the document you should end up holding.
The board memo on your brand's onchain TLD
Directors do not need a course on blockchains. They need the issue, the options and what you recommend.
What trademark law reaches onchain, and what it does not
The right exists. The difficulty is the defendant, the forum and the remedy. A plain account for brand owners.
Onchain TLDs and banks: what a general counsel should check
A bank's name next to a payment instruction carries weight. That is the reason this sector should look first.
Your organization's name onchain: a guide for legal teams
Registries, TLDs, subnames, and the options on the table when your organization's name shows up onchain.
Onchain TLDs and insurers: what to check
What is specific to insurance when the organization's name exists as an onchain TLD, and what to check first.
Onchain TLDs and energy companies: what to check
What is specific to energy when the organization's name exists as an onchain TLD, and what to check first.
Onchain TLDs and healthcare providers: what to check
What is specific to healthcare when the organization's name exists as an onchain TLD, and what to check first.